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Repeat Stretching of the Voice Box Airway

Tennessee 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?

$2,357

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

Insurers have agreed to pay about $2,357 for this procedure. That total is two separate charges: $219 to the doctor who performs it, and $2,138 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$219$162 to $339
Facility feeThe hospital or surgery center$2,138$1,380 to $3,548

How much rates vary

Facilitymedian $2,138 · 10th to 90th $891 to $4,898Professionalmedian $219 · 10th to 90th $148 to $1,738
$200$500$1K$2K$5Kfacility $2,138professional $219

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
$1,479.11
Median
$2,454.71
Typical High
$7,585.78
Aetna
Setting
Professional
Modifier
None
Typical Low
$141.25
Median
$154.88
Typical High
$223.87
BCBS Tennessee
Setting
Facility
Modifier
None
Typical Low
$1,000.00
Median
$1,995.26
Typical High
$5,128.61
BCBS Tennessee
Setting
Professional
Modifier
None
Typical Low
$165.96
Median
$223.87
Typical High
$380.19
Cigna
Setting
Facility
Modifier
None
Typical Low
$524.81
Median
$1,995.26
Typical High
$3,715.35
Cigna
Setting
Professional
Modifier
None
Typical Low
$147.91
Median
$177.83
Typical High
$338.84
Lucent Health
Setting
Professional
Modifier
None
Typical Low
$1,737.80
Median
$1,737.80
Typical High
$1,737.80
United
Setting
Facility
Modifier
None
Typical Low
$1,000.00
Median
$2,570.40
Typical High
$5,128.61
United
Setting
Professional
Modifier
None
Typical Low
$151.36
Median
$223.87
Typical High
$354.81
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
$70.79
Median
$74.13
Typical High
$109.65
Aetna
Setting
Professional
Modifier
53 · Discontinued
Typical Low
$28.18
Median
$29.51
Typical High
$44.67
Aetna
Setting
Professional
Modifier
54 · Surgery only
Typical Low
$104.71
Median
$109.65
Typical High
$165.96
Aetna
Setting
Professional
Modifier
55 · Aftercare only
Typical Low
$20.89
Median
$21.88
Typical High
$33.11
Aetna
Setting
Professional
Modifier
56 · Pre-op care only
Typical Low
$14.13
Median
$14.79
Typical High
$22.39

Where Tennessee 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

Tennessee· 25th of 51

$2,357

$219 physician + $2,138 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.