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Repeat Stretching of the Voice Box Airway

Massachusetts 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?

$1,545

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

Insurers have agreed to pay about $1,545 for this procedure. That total is two separate charges: $257 to the doctor who performs it, and $1,288 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 9 insurance carriers under federal price transparency rules.

What's inside this number

Part of the billTypicalRange
Physician feeThe doctor who performs it$257$191 to $468
Facility feeThe hospital or surgery center$1,288$302 to $2,630

How much rates vary

Facilitymedian $1,288 · 10th to 90th $174 to $5,129Professionalmedian $257 · 10th to 90th $141 to $1,738
$200$500$1K$2K$5K$10Kfacility $1,288professional $257

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
$1,513.56
Median
$2,691.53
Typical High
$3,715.35
Aetna
Setting
Professional
Modifier
None
Typical Low
$125.89
Median
$125.89
Typical High
$295.12
AllWays Health Partners
Setting
Facility
Modifier
None
Typical Low
$436.52
Median
$1,995.26
Typical High
$5,623.41
AllWays Health Partners
Setting
Professional
Modifier
None
Typical Low
$169.82
Median
$416.87
Typical High
$1,737.80
BCBS Massachusetts
Setting
Professional
Modifier
None
Typical Low
$263.03
Median
$263.03
Typical High
$263.03
Cigna
Setting
Facility
Modifier
None
Typical Low
$588.84
Median
$2,187.76
Typical High
$3,235.94
Cigna
Setting
Professional
Modifier
None
Typical Low
$204.17
Median
$223.87
Typical High
$512.86
Fallon Health
Setting
Facility
Modifier
None
Typical Low
$154.88
Median
$199.53
Typical High
$3,311.31
Fallon Health
Setting
Professional
Modifier
None
Typical Low
$162.18
Median
$190.55
Typical High
$234.42
Harvard Pilgrim
Setting
Facility
Modifier
None
Typical Low
$977.24
Median
$2,290.87
Typical High
$5,754.40
Harvard Pilgrim
Setting
Professional
Modifier
None
Typical Low
$165.96
Median
$309.03
Typical High
$660.69
Mass General Brigham
Setting
Facility
Modifier
None
Typical Low
$436.52
Median
$1,995.26
Typical High
$5,623.41
Mass General Brigham
Setting
Professional
Modifier
None
Typical Low
$169.82
Median
$416.87
Typical High
$1,737.80
United
Setting
Facility
Modifier
None
Typical Low
$1,047.13
Median
$2,344.23
Typical High
$9,772.37
United
Setting
Professional
Modifier
None
Typical Low
$177.83
Median
$251.19
Typical High
$660.69
Well Sense
Setting
Facility
Modifier
None
Typical Low
$131.83
Median
$234.42
Typical High
$1,047.13
Well Sense
Setting
Professional
Modifier
None
Typical Low
$120.23
Median
$120.23
Typical High
$144.54
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
$63.10
Median
$63.10
Typical High
$234.42
Aetna
Setting
Professional
Modifier
53 · Discontinued
Typical Low
$25.12
Median
$25.12
Typical High
$93.33
Aetna
Setting
Professional
Modifier
54 · Surgery only
Typical Low
$93.33
Median
$93.33
Typical High
$354.81
Aetna
Setting
Professional
Modifier
55 · Aftercare only
Typical Low
$18.62
Median
$18.62
Typical High
$70.79
Aetna
Setting
Professional
Modifier
56 · Pre-op care only
Typical Low
$12.59
Median
$12.59
Typical High
$46.77

Where Massachusetts 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

Massachusetts· 47th of 51

$1,545

$257 physician + $1,288 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.