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Repeat Stretching of the Voice Box Airway

Illinois 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?

$3,023

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

Insurers have agreed to pay about $3,023 for this procedure. That total is two separate charges: $204 to the doctor who performs it, and $2,818 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$204$182 to $269
Facility feeThe hospital or surgery center$2,818$1,698 to $3,981

How much rates vary

Facilitymedian $2,818 · 10th to 90th $851 to $5,754Professionalmedian $204 · 10th to 90th $155 to $363
$50$200$1K$5Kfacility $2,818professional $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
$181.97
Median
$1,737.80
Typical High
$5,623.41
Aetna
Setting
Professional
Modifier
None
Typical Low
$144.54
Median
$181.97
Typical High
$281.84
BCBS Illinois
Setting
Facility
Modifier
None
Typical Low
$2,089.30
Median
$3,235.94
Typical High
$5,370.32
Cigna
Setting
Facility
Modifier
None
Typical Low
$630.96
Median
$3,019.95
Typical High
$3,801.89
Cigna
Setting
Professional
Modifier
None
Typical Low
$173.78
Median
$204.17
Typical High
$309.03
Hally Health
Setting
Professional
Modifier
None
Typical Low
$162.18
Median
$257.04
Typical High
$794.33
Hally Health
Setting
Facility
Modifier
None
Typical Low
$100.00
Median
$100.00
Typical High
$100.00
Hally Health
Setting
Professional
Modifier
None
Typical Low
$190.55
Median
$204.17
Typical High
$223.87
Molina
Setting
Professional
Modifier
None
Typical Low
$33.11
Median
$33.11
Typical High
$33.11
United
Setting
Facility
Modifier
None
Typical Low
$1,047.13
Median
$2,454.71
Typical High
$7,585.78
United
Setting
Professional
Modifier
None
Typical Low
$165.96
Median
$213.80
Typical High
$363.08
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
$72.44
Median
$91.20
Typical High
$91.20
Aetna
Setting
Professional
Modifier
53 · Discontinued
Typical Low
$28.84
Median
$36.31
Typical High
$36.31
Aetna
Setting
Professional
Modifier
54 · Surgery only
Typical Low
$107.15
Median
$134.90
Typical High
$134.90
Aetna
Setting
Professional
Modifier
55 · Aftercare only
Typical Low
$21.38
Median
$27.54
Typical High
$27.54
Aetna
Setting
Professional
Modifier
56 · Pre-op care only
Typical Low
$14.45
Median
$18.20
Typical High
$18.20

Where Illinois 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

Illinois· 14th of 51

$3,023

$204 physician + $2,818 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.