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Repeat Stretching of the Voice Box Airway

New Jersey 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?

$3,249

Typical total for the visit. In New Jersey, October 2026.

Insurers have agreed to pay about $3,249 for this procedure. That total is two separate charges: $158 to the doctor who performs it, and $3,090 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$158$138 to $229
Facility feeThe hospital or surgery center$3,090$1,950 to $5,495

How much rates vary

Facilitymedian $3,090 · 10th to 90th $955 to $8,128Professionalmedian $158 · 10th to 90th $112 to $347
$100$200$500$1K$2K$5K$10Kfacility $3,090professional $158

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
$158.49
Median
$5,248.07
Typical High
$10,471.29
Aetna
Setting
Professional
Modifier
None
Typical Low
$138.04
Median
$154.88
Typical High
$295.12
Cigna
Setting
Facility
Modifier
None
Typical Low
$933.25
Median
$2,238.72
Typical High
$3,715.35
Cigna
Setting
Professional
Modifier
None
Typical Low
$107.15
Median
$181.97
Typical High
$426.58
Emblem Health
Setting
Professional
Modifier
None
Typical Low
$147.91
Median
$218.78
Typical High
$218.78
Horizon BCBS
Setting
Facility
Modifier
None
Typical Low
$2,630.27
Median
$4,786.30
Typical High
$14,125.38
Horizon BCBS
Setting
Professional
Modifier
None
Typical Low
$147.91
Median
$177.83
Typical High
$446.68
United
Setting
Facility
Modifier
None
Typical Low
$1,122.02
Median
$2,884.03
Typical High
$6,918.31
United
Setting
Professional
Modifier
None
Typical Low
$102.33
Median
$141.25
Typical High
$346.74
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
$69.18
Median
$69.18
Typical High
$87.10
Aetna
Setting
Professional
Modifier
53 · Discontinued
Typical Low
$27.54
Median
$27.54
Typical High
$34.67
Aetna
Setting
Professional
Modifier
54 · Surgery only
Typical Low
$102.33
Median
$102.33
Typical High
$128.82
Aetna
Setting
Professional
Modifier
55 · Aftercare only
Typical Low
$20.42
Median
$20.42
Typical High
$25.70
Aetna
Setting
Professional
Modifier
56 · Pre-op care only
Typical Low
$13.80
Median
$13.80
Typical High
$17.38

Where New Jersey 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

New Jersey· 13th of 51

$3,249

$158 physician + $3,090 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.