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Voice Box Exam With Stretching Of A Narrowing

Louisiana rates for HCPCS 31528

A scope is passed through the mouth into the voice box so the surgeon can look at it directly and widen a narrowed part of the airway, stretching it with a dilator or a balloon. It relieves noisy or difficult breathing and a weak voice caused by scarring or narrowing. This covers the first such stretching; repeat sessions are billed separately.

Rates data updated October 2026.

How much does Voice Box Exam With Stretching Of A Narrowing cost?

$2,053

Typical total for the visit. In Louisiana, October 2026.

Insurers have agreed to pay about $2,053 for this procedure. That total is two separate charges: $191 to the doctor who performs it, and $1,862 to the hospital or surgery center where it takes place. Done somewhere without a facility charge, you pay only the first.

These are rates insurers have negotiated with providers, not the amount a patient is billed. What you owe depends on your plan's deductible and coinsurance. Based on rates published by 5 insurance carriers under federal price transparency rules.

What's inside this number

Part of the billTypicalRange
Physician feeThe doctor who performs it$191$158 to $245
Facility feeThe hospital or surgery center$1,862$1,318 to $3,981

How much rates vary

Facilitymedian $1,862 · 10th to 90th $832 to $5,754Professionalmedian $191 · 10th to 90th $135 to $269
$100$200$500$1K$2K$5K$10Kfacility $1,862professional $191

Distribution of negotiated rates across all payers (price axis is log-scale). Need provider-level prices or 24+ months of history? Contact us.

Rates by insurance carrier

Insurance Carrier
Aetna
Setting
Facility
Modifier
None
Typical Low
$398.11
Median
$1,513.56
Typical High
$3,548.13
Aetna
Setting
Professional
Modifier
None
Typical Low
$165.96
Median
$208.93
Typical High
$257.04
BCBS Louisiana
Setting
Facility
Modifier
None
Typical Low
$1,659.59
Median
$2,630.27
Typical High
$6,025.60
BCBS Louisiana
Setting
Professional
Modifier
None
Typical Low
$162.18
Median
$204.17
Typical High
$223.87
Christus
Setting
Facility
Modifier
None
Typical Low
$39.81
Median
$39.81
Typical High
$39.81
Cigna
Setting
Facility
Modifier
None
Typical Low
$501.19
Median
$831.76
Typical High
$2,691.53
Cigna
Setting
Professional
Modifier
None
Typical Low
$109.65
Median
$173.78
Typical High
$257.04
United
Setting
Facility
Modifier
None
Typical Low
$831.76
Median
$1,548.82
Typical High
$6,025.60
United
Setting
Professional
Modifier
None
Typical Low
$125.89
Median
$169.82
Typical High
$269.15
5 more rates with less common billing modifiers

A modifier changes what was billed, for example a reduced or repeated service. Each of these modifiers carries under 10% of the published rates for this code. Modifier combinations, and modifiers with fewer than 30 rates for a carrier, are not listed.

Insurance Carrier
Aetna
Setting
Professional
Modifier
52 · Reduced service
Typical Low
$83.18
Median
$104.71
Typical High
$125.89
Aetna
Setting
Professional
Modifier
53 · Discontinued
Typical Low
$33.88
Median
$41.69
Typical High
$51.29
Aetna
Setting
Professional
Modifier
54 · Surgery only
Typical Low
$125.89
Median
$154.88
Typical High
$190.55
Aetna
Setting
Professional
Modifier
55 · Aftercare only
Typical Low
$25.12
Median
$30.90
Typical High
$38.02
Aetna
Setting
Professional
Modifier
56 · Pre-op care only
Typical Low
$16.60
Median
$20.89
Typical High
$25.70

Where Louisiana sits

The same service costs 14.3 times more in Colorado than in Montana. Every bar is a state, most expensive first. Touch or drag across it to read any state, then open that state for its carriers and full range.

Physician feeFacility fee

Louisiana· 29th of 51

$2,053

$191 physician + $1,862 facility

CO $6,102MT $428

Median negotiated rate in each state, from every insurer that publishes one. States where no insurer publishes a rate for this service are not shown.