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Voice Box Exam With Stretching Of A Narrowing

Rhode Island 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?

$2,569

Typical total for the visit. In Rhode Island, October 2026.

Insurers have agreed to pay about $2,569 for this procedure. That total is two separate charges: $170 to the doctor who performs it, and $2,399 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 4 insurance carriers under federal price transparency rules.

What's inside this number

Part of the billTypicalRange
Physician feeThe doctor who performs it$170$162 to $234
Facility feeThe hospital or surgery center$2,399$1,175 to $3,715

How much rates vary

Facilitymedian $2,399 · 10th to 90th $871 to $5,888Professionalmedian $170 · 10th to 90th $145 to $282
$100$200$500$1K$2K$5K$10Kfacility $2,399professional $170

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
$2,089.30
Median
$2,754.23
Typical High
$3,981.07
Aetna
Setting
Professional
Modifier
None
Typical Low
$162.18
Median
$162.18
Typical High
$263.03
BCBS Rhode Island
Setting
Professional
Modifier
None
Typical Low
$128.82
Median
$169.82
Typical High
$295.12
Cigna
Setting
Facility
Modifier
None
Typical Low
$588.84
Median
$2,187.76
Typical High
$3,162.28
Cigna
Setting
Professional
Modifier
None
Typical Low
$181.97
Median
$234.42
Typical High
$302.00
United
Setting
Facility
Modifier
None
Typical Low
$870.96
Median
$2,089.30
Typical High
$7,413.10
United
Setting
Professional
Modifier
None
Typical Low
$128.82
Median
$177.83
Typical High
$251.19
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
$81.28
Median
$81.28
Typical High
$81.28
Aetna
Setting
Professional
Modifier
53 · Discontinued
Typical Low
$32.36
Median
$32.36
Typical High
$32.36
Aetna
Setting
Professional
Modifier
54 · Surgery only
Typical Low
$120.23
Median
$120.23
Typical High
$120.23
Aetna
Setting
Professional
Modifier
55 · Aftercare only
Typical Low
$24.55
Median
$24.55
Typical High
$24.55
Aetna
Setting
Professional
Modifier
56 · Pre-op care only
Typical Low
$16.22
Median
$16.22
Typical High
$16.22

Where Rhode Island 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

Rhode Island· 21st of 51

$2,569

$170 physician + $2,399 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.