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Repeat Stretching of the Voice Box Airway

Louisiana 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?

$2,076

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

Insurers have agreed to pay about $2,076 for this procedure. That total is two separate charges: $214 to the doctor who performs it, and $1,862 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$214$178 to $275
Facility feeThe hospital or surgery center$1,862$1,318 to $3,981

How much rates vary

Facilitymedian $1,862 · 10th to 90th $832 to $5,754Professionalmedian $214 · 10th to 90th $148 to $302
$200$500$1K$2K$5K$10Kfacility $1,862professional $214

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
$446.68
Median
$1,513.56
Typical High
$3,548.13
Aetna
Setting
Professional
Modifier
None
Typical Low
$186.21
Median
$234.42
Typical High
$288.40
BCBS Louisiana
Setting
Facility
Modifier
None
Typical Low
$1,659.59
Median
$2,511.89
Typical High
$5,888.44
BCBS Louisiana
Setting
Professional
Modifier
None
Typical Low
$181.97
Median
$229.09
Typical High
$251.19
Christus
Setting
Facility
Modifier
None
Typical Low
$39.81
Median
$39.81
Typical High
$39.81
Cigna
Setting
Facility
Modifier
None
Typical Low
$501.19
Median
$831.76
Typical High
$2,691.53
Cigna
Setting
Professional
Modifier
None
Typical Low
$120.23
Median
$199.53
Typical High
$288.40
United
Setting
Facility
Modifier
None
Typical Low
$831.76
Median
$1,548.82
Typical High
$6,025.60
United
Setting
Professional
Modifier
None
Typical Low
$141.25
Median
$199.53
Typical High
$309.03
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
$93.33
Median
$117.49
Typical High
$141.25
Aetna
Setting
Professional
Modifier
53 · Discontinued
Typical Low
$38.02
Median
$46.77
Typical High
$57.54
Aetna
Setting
Professional
Modifier
54 · Surgery only
Typical Low
$141.25
Median
$173.78
Typical High
$213.80
Aetna
Setting
Professional
Modifier
55 · Aftercare only
Typical Low
$28.18
Median
$34.67
Typical High
$42.66
Aetna
Setting
Professional
Modifier
56 · Pre-op care only
Typical Low
$18.62
Median
$23.44
Typical High
$28.84

Where Louisiana 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

Louisiana· 30th of 51

$2,076

$214 physician + $1,862 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.