go back

Repeat Stretching of the Voice Box Airway

Georgia 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?

$1,809

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

Insurers have agreed to pay about $1,809 for this procedure. That total is two separate charges: $224 to the doctor who performs it, and $1,585 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$224$191 to $275
Facility feeThe hospital or surgery center$1,585$851 to $2,570

How much rates vary

Facilitymedian $1,585 · 10th to 90th $550 to $5,370Professionalmedian $224 · 10th to 90th $155 to $380
$200$500$1K$2K$5K$10Kfacility $1,585professional $224

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
$478.63
Median
$5,011.87
Typical High
$7,943.28
Aetna
Setting
Professional
Modifier
None
Typical Low
$173.78
Median
$173.78
Typical High
$478.63
Ambetter
Setting
Professional
Modifier
None
Typical Low
$263.03
Median
$263.03
Typical High
$263.03
Anthem BCBS
Setting
Facility
Modifier
None
Typical Low
$512.86
Median
$1,071.52
Typical High
$5,754.40
Anthem BCBS
Setting
Professional
Modifier
None
Typical Low
$154.88
Median
$223.87
Typical High
$354.81
Cigna
Setting
Facility
Modifier
None
Typical Low
$524.81
Median
$1,949.84
Typical High
$2,454.71
Cigna
Setting
Professional
Modifier
None
Typical Low
$177.83
Median
$263.03
Typical High
$416.87
Kaiser Permanente
Setting
Professional
Modifier
None
Typical Low
$141.25
Median
$177.83
Typical High
$616.60
United
Setting
Facility
Modifier
None
Typical Low
$851.14
Median
$1,479.11
Typical High
$5,011.87
United
Setting
Professional
Modifier
None
Typical Low
$165.96
Median
$251.19
Typical High
$457.09
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
$87.10
Median
$87.10
Typical High
$97.72
Aetna
Setting
Professional
Modifier
53 · Discontinued
Typical Low
$34.67
Median
$34.67
Typical High
$39.81
Aetna
Setting
Professional
Modifier
54 · Surgery only
Typical Low
$131.83
Median
$131.83
Typical High
$147.91
Aetna
Setting
Professional
Modifier
55 · Aftercare only
Typical Low
$26.30
Median
$26.30
Typical High
$29.51
Aetna
Setting
Professional
Modifier
56 · Pre-op care only
Typical Low
$17.38
Median
$17.38
Typical High
$19.95

Where Georgia 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

Georgia· 41st of 51

$1,809

$224 physician + $1,585 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.