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Voice Box Exam With Stretching Of A Narrowing

Minnesota 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?

$1,597

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

Insurers have agreed to pay about $1,597 for this procedure. That total is two separate charges: $309 to the doctor who performs it, and $1,288 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 6 insurance carriers under federal price transparency rules.

What's inside this number

Part of the billTypicalRange
Physician feeThe doctor who performs it$309$224 to $437
Facility feeThe hospital or surgery center$1,288$282 to $3,715

How much rates vary

Facilitymedian $1,288 · 10th to 90th $155 to $6,026Professionalmedian $309 · 10th to 90th $162 to $589
$200$500$1K$2K$5K$10Kfacility $1,288professional $309

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
$154.88
Median
$154.88
Typical High
$6,025.60
Aetna
Setting
Professional
Modifier
None
Typical Low
$154.88
Median
$154.88
Typical High
$181.97
BCBS Minnesota
Setting
Facility
Modifier
None
Typical Low
$2,137.96
Median
$5,888.44
Typical High
$13,803.84
BCBS Minnesota
Setting
Professional
Modifier
None
Typical Low
$213.80
Median
$288.40
Typical High
$501.19
Cigna
Setting
Facility
Modifier
None
Typical Low
$234.42
Median
$363.08
Typical High
$691.83
Cigna
Setting
Professional
Modifier
None
Typical Low
$263.03
Median
$416.87
Typical High
$660.69
Health Partners
Setting
Facility
Modifier
None
Typical Low
$208.93
Median
$331.13
Typical High
$575.44
Health Partners
Setting
Professional
Modifier
None
Typical Low
$234.42
Median
$380.19
Typical High
$575.44
Medica
Setting
Facility
Modifier
None
Typical Low
$245.47
Median
$2,041.74
Typical High
$6,760.83
Medica
Setting
Professional
Modifier
None
Typical Low
$169.82
Median
$309.03
Typical High
$1,995.26
United
Setting
Facility
Modifier
None
Typical Low
$1,513.56
Median
$2,511.89
Typical High
$8,317.64
United
Setting
Professional
Modifier
None
Typical Low
$158.49
Median
$288.40
Typical High
$602.56
10 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
Facility
Modifier
52 · Reduced service
Typical Low
$77.62
Median
$77.62
Typical High
$77.62
Aetna
Setting
Facility
Modifier
53 · Discontinued
Typical Low
$30.90
Median
$30.90
Typical High
$30.90
Aetna
Setting
Facility
Modifier
54 · Surgery only
Typical Low
$114.82
Median
$114.82
Typical High
$114.82
Aetna
Setting
Facility
Modifier
55 · Aftercare only
Typical Low
$22.91
Median
$22.91
Typical High
$22.91
Aetna
Setting
Facility
Modifier
56 · Pre-op care only
Typical Low
$15.49
Median
$15.49
Typical High
$15.49
Aetna
Setting
Professional
Modifier
52 · Reduced service
Typical Low
$77.62
Median
$77.62
Typical High
$91.20
Aetna
Setting
Professional
Modifier
53 · Discontinued
Typical Low
$30.90
Median
$30.90
Typical High
$36.31
Aetna
Setting
Professional
Modifier
54 · Surgery only
Typical Low
$114.82
Median
$114.82
Typical High
$138.04
Aetna
Setting
Professional
Modifier
55 · Aftercare only
Typical Low
$22.91
Median
$22.91
Typical High
$27.54
Aetna
Setting
Professional
Modifier
56 · Pre-op care only
Typical Low
$15.49
Median
$15.49
Typical High
$18.20

Where Minnesota 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

Minnesota· 46th of 51

$1,597

$309 physician + $1,288 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.