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Repeat Stretching of the Voice Box Airway

Arkansas rates for HCPCS 31529

A scope is passed into the voice box, and the windpipe below it when needed, and a narrowed section of the airway is stretched open with a balloon or dilator. It is used when scarring or swelling has tightened the airway, causing noisy or difficult breathing or a weak voice. This is a repeat stretching, carried out after an earlier one.

Rates data updated October 2026.

How much does Repeat Stretching of the Voice Box Airway cost?

$1,864

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

Insurers have agreed to pay about $1,864 for this procedure. That total is two separate charges: $204 to the doctor who performs it, and $1,660 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$204$162 to $219
Facility feeThe hospital or surgery center$1,660$1,175 to $3,388

How much rates vary

Facilitymedian $1,660 · 10th to 90th $794 to $4,266Professionalmedian $204 · 10th to 90th $148 to $302
$200$500$1K$2K$5Kfacility $1,660professional $204

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
$208.93
Median
$1,288.25
Typical High
$2,454.71
Aetna
Setting
Professional
Modifier
None
Typical Low
$186.21
Median
$208.93
Typical High
$208.93
BCBS Arkansas
Setting
Facility
Modifier
None
Typical Low
$1,584.89
Median
$3,388.44
Typical High
$4,677.35
BCBS Arkansas
Setting
Professional
Modifier
None
Typical Low
$162.18
Median
$162.18
Typical High
$213.80
Cigna
Setting
Facility
Modifier
None
Typical Low
$512.86
Median
$1,479.11
Typical High
$1,905.46
Cigna
Setting
Professional
Modifier
None
Typical Low
$147.91
Median
$204.17
Typical High
$302.00
Qualchoice
Setting
Professional
Modifier
None
Typical Low
$676.08
Median
$676.08
Typical High
$676.08
United
Setting
Facility
Modifier
None
Typical Low
$794.33
Median
$1,122.02
Typical High
$3,388.44
United
Setting
Professional
Modifier
None
Typical Low
$144.54
Median
$169.82
Typical High
$302.00
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
$89.13
Median
$104.71
Typical High
$104.71
Aetna
Setting
Professional
Modifier
53 · Discontinued
Typical Low
$35.48
Median
$41.69
Typical High
$41.69
Aetna
Setting
Professional
Modifier
54 · Surgery only
Typical Low
$131.83
Median
$154.88
Typical High
$154.88
Aetna
Setting
Professional
Modifier
55 · Aftercare only
Typical Low
$26.92
Median
$31.62
Typical High
$31.62
Aetna
Setting
Professional
Modifier
56 · Pre-op care only
Typical Low
$17.78
Median
$20.89
Typical High
$20.89

Where Arkansas sits

The same service costs 13.0 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

Arkansas· 38th of 51

$1,864

$204 physician + $1,660 facility

CO $6,260MT $480

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.