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Repeat Stretching of the Voice Box Airway

Kentucky 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?

$1,833

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

Insurers have agreed to pay about $1,833 for this procedure. That total is two separate charges: $174 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 6 insurance carriers under federal price transparency rules.

What's inside this number

Part of the billTypicalRange
Physician feeThe doctor who performs it$174$155 to $234
Facility feeThe hospital or surgery center$1,660$813 to $2,570

How much rates vary

Facilitymedian $1,660 · 10th to 90th $195 to $4,169Professionalmedian $174 · 10th to 90th $135 to $269
$50$100$200$500$1K$2K$5Kfacility $1,660professional $174

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
$154.88
Median
$194.98
Typical High
$2,290.87
Aetna
Setting
Professional
Modifier
None
Typical Low
$154.88
Median
$158.49
Typical High
$194.98
Anthem BCBS
Setting
Facility
Modifier
None
Typical Low
$724.44
Median
$1,995.26
Typical High
$4,265.80
Anthem BCBS
Setting
Professional
Modifier
None
Typical Low
$134.90
Median
$169.82
Typical High
$251.19
CareSource
Setting
Facility
Modifier
None
Typical Low
$144.54
Median
$234.42
Typical High
$2,691.53
CareSource
Setting
Professional
Modifier
None
Typical Low
$147.91
Median
$208.93
Typical High
$245.47
Cigna
Setting
Facility
Modifier
None
Typical Low
$245.47
Median
$1,659.59
Typical High
$2,041.74
Cigna
Setting
Professional
Modifier
None
Typical Low
$151.36
Median
$229.09
Typical High
$1,023.29
Molina
Setting
Professional
Modifier
None
Typical Low
$33.11
Median
$33.11
Typical High
$33.11
United
Setting
Facility
Modifier
None
Typical Low
$707.95
Median
$1,174.90
Typical High
$3,890.45
United
Setting
Professional
Modifier
None
Typical Low
$154.88
Median
$213.80
Typical High
$295.12
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
$77.62
Median
$77.62
Typical High
$97.72
Aetna
Setting
Professional
Modifier
53 · Discontinued
Typical Low
$30.90
Median
$31.62
Typical High
$38.90
Aetna
Setting
Professional
Modifier
54 · Surgery only
Typical Low
$117.49
Median
$117.49
Typical High
$147.91
Aetna
Setting
Professional
Modifier
55 · Aftercare only
Typical Low
$23.44
Median
$23.44
Typical High
$29.51
Aetna
Setting
Professional
Modifier
56 · Pre-op care only
Typical Low
$15.49
Median
$15.85
Typical High
$19.50

Where Kentucky 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

Kentucky· 40th of 51

$1,833

$174 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.