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Voice Box Exam With Stretching Of A Narrowing

New Jersey 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?

$3,235

Typical total for the visit. In New Jersey, October 2026.

Insurers have agreed to pay about $3,235 for this procedure. That total is two separate charges: $145 to the doctor who performs it, and $3,090 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$145$120 to $214
Facility feeThe hospital or surgery center$3,090$1,950 to $5,495

How much rates vary

Facilitymedian $3,090 · 10th to 90th $955 to $8,318Professionalmedian $145 · 10th to 90th $100 to $309
$100$200$500$1K$2K$5K$10Kfacility $3,090professional $145

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
$144.54
Median
$5,370.32
Typical High
$10,471.29
Aetna
Setting
Professional
Modifier
None
Typical Low
$120.23
Median
$144.54
Typical High
$263.03
Cigna
Setting
Facility
Modifier
None
Typical Low
$933.25
Median
$2,238.72
Typical High
$3,715.35
Cigna
Setting
Professional
Modifier
None
Typical Low
$95.50
Median
$165.96
Typical High
$380.19
Emblem Health
Setting
Professional
Modifier
None
Typical Low
$134.90
Median
$199.53
Typical High
$199.53
Horizon BCBS
Setting
Facility
Modifier
None
Typical Low
$2,630.27
Median
$4,786.30
Typical High
$15,135.61
Horizon BCBS
Setting
Professional
Modifier
None
Typical Low
$131.83
Median
$162.18
Typical High
$398.11
United
Setting
Facility
Modifier
None
Typical Low
$1,122.02
Median
$2,884.03
Typical High
$6,918.31
United
Setting
Professional
Modifier
None
Typical Low
$93.33
Median
$125.89
Typical High
$309.03
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
$60.26
Median
$60.26
Typical High
$77.62
Aetna
Setting
Professional
Modifier
53 · Discontinued
Typical Low
$24.55
Median
$24.55
Typical High
$30.90
Aetna
Setting
Professional
Modifier
54 · Surgery only
Typical Low
$91.20
Median
$91.20
Typical High
$114.82
Aetna
Setting
Professional
Modifier
55 · Aftercare only
Typical Low
$18.20
Median
$18.20
Typical High
$22.91
Aetna
Setting
Professional
Modifier
56 · Pre-op care only
Typical Low
$12.02
Median
$12.02
Typical High
$15.49

Where New Jersey 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

New Jersey· 11th of 51

$3,235

$145 physician + $3,090 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.