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Voice Box Exam With Stretching Of A Narrowing

Tennessee 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?

$2,333

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

Insurers have agreed to pay about $2,333 for this procedure. That total is two separate charges: $195 to the doctor who performs it, and $2,138 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$195$141 to $302
Facility feeThe hospital or surgery center$2,138$1,380 to $3,548

How much rates vary

Facilitymedian $2,138 · 10th to 90th $871 to $4,786Professionalmedian $195 · 10th to 90th $132 to $2,089
$100$200$500$1K$2K$5Kfacility $2,138professional $195

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
$1,071.52
Median
$2,454.71
Typical High
$7,585.78
Aetna
Setting
Professional
Modifier
None
Typical Low
$125.89
Median
$141.25
Typical High
$199.53
BCBS Tennessee
Setting
Facility
Modifier
None
Typical Low
$1,000.00
Median
$1,995.26
Typical High
$5,128.61
BCBS Tennessee
Setting
Professional
Modifier
None
Typical Low
$147.91
Median
$199.53
Typical High
$338.84
Cigna
Setting
Facility
Modifier
None
Typical Low
$524.81
Median
$1,995.26
Typical High
$3,715.35
Cigna
Setting
Professional
Modifier
None
Typical Low
$131.83
Median
$162.18
Typical High
$302.00
Lucent Health
Setting
Professional
Modifier
None
Typical Low
$2,089.30
Median
$2,089.30
Typical High
$2,089.30
United
Setting
Facility
Modifier
None
Typical Low
$1,000.00
Median
$2,570.40
Typical High
$5,128.61
United
Setting
Professional
Modifier
None
Typical Low
$138.04
Median
$199.53
Typical High
$316.23
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
$63.10
Median
$66.07
Typical High
$97.72
Aetna
Setting
Professional
Modifier
53 · Discontinued
Typical Low
$25.12
Median
$26.30
Typical High
$39.81
Aetna
Setting
Professional
Modifier
54 · Surgery only
Typical Low
$93.33
Median
$97.72
Typical High
$147.91
Aetna
Setting
Professional
Modifier
55 · Aftercare only
Typical Low
$18.62
Median
$19.50
Typical High
$29.51
Aetna
Setting
Professional
Modifier
56 · Pre-op care only
Typical Low
$12.59
Median
$13.18
Typical High
$19.95

Where Tennessee 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

Tennessee· 25th of 51

$2,333

$195 physician + $2,138 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.