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Repeat Stretching of the Voice Box Airway

Virginia 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?

$3,575

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

Insurers have agreed to pay about $3,575 for this procedure. That total is two separate charges: $186 to the doctor who performs it, and $3,388 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 8 insurance carriers under federal price transparency rules.

What's inside this number

Part of the billTypicalRange
Physician feeThe doctor who performs it$186$162 to $214
Facility feeThe hospital or surgery center$3,388$1,072 to $6,310

How much rates vary

Facilitymedian $3,388 · 10th to 90th $214 to $10,000Professionalmedian $186 · 10th to 90th $151 to $288
$200$500$1K$2K$5K$10Kfacility $3,388professional $186

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
$346.74
Median
$4,786.30
Typical High
$10,000.00
Aetna
Setting
Professional
Modifier
None
Typical Low
$181.97
Median
$181.97
Typical High
$3,467.37
Anthem BCBS
Setting
Facility
Modifier
None
Typical Low
$4,677.35
Median
$6,456.54
Typical High
$7,244.36
Anthem BCBS
Setting
Professional
Modifier
None
Typical Low
$151.36
Median
$177.83
Typical High
$229.09
CareFirst
Setting
Professional
Modifier
None
Typical Low
$154.88
Median
$173.78
Typical High
$4,365.16
Cigna
Setting
Facility
Modifier
None
Typical Low
$478.63
Median
$1,698.24
Typical High
$3,235.94
Cigna
Setting
Professional
Modifier
None
Typical Low
$154.88
Median
$190.55
Typical High
$288.40
Kaiser Permanente
Setting
Professional
Modifier
None
Typical Low
$134.90
Median
$158.49
Typical High
$199.53
Medcost
Setting
Professional
Modifier
None
Typical Low
$234.42
Median
$288.40
Typical High
$288.40
Medcost
Setting
Facility
Modifier
None
Typical Low
$181.97
Median
$223.87
Typical High
$295.12
Medcost
Setting
Professional
Modifier
None
Typical Low
$208.93
Median
$208.93
Typical High
$208.93
Sentara
Setting
Facility
Modifier
None
Typical Low
$165.96
Median
$912.01
Typical High
$8,709.64
Sentara
Setting
Professional
Modifier
None
Typical Low
$162.18
Median
$213.80
Typical High
$4,073.80
United
Setting
Facility
Modifier
None
Typical Low
$1,230.27
Median
$5,011.87
Typical High
$13,182.57
United
Setting
Professional
Modifier
None
Typical Low
$131.83
Median
$213.80
Typical High
$323.59
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
$87.10
Median
$91.20
Typical High
$95.50
Aetna
Setting
Professional
Modifier
53 · Discontinued
Typical Low
$34.67
Median
$36.31
Typical High
$38.02
Aetna
Setting
Professional
Modifier
54 · Surgery only
Typical Low
$131.83
Median
$134.90
Typical High
$141.25
Aetna
Setting
Professional
Modifier
55 · Aftercare only
Typical Low
$26.30
Median
$26.92
Typical High
$28.18
Aetna
Setting
Professional
Modifier
56 · Pre-op care only
Typical Low
$17.38
Median
$18.20
Typical High
$19.05

Where Virginia 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

Virginia· 11th of 51

$3,575

$186 physician + $3,388 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.