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Airway Scope To Remove An Inhaled Object

North Carolina rates for HCPCS 31635

Passes a lighted scope, rigid or flexible, through the mouth or nose into the windpipe and airways to find and pull out an object that has been inhaled - a piece of food, a tooth fragment, a small toy, or similar. It is done under sedation or general anesthesia.

Rates data updated October 2026.

How much does Airway Scope To Remove An Inhaled Object cost?

$1,434

Typical total for the visit. In North Carolina, October 2026.

Insurers have agreed to pay about $1,434 for this procedure. That total is two separate charges: $457 to the doctor who performs it, and $977 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 6 insurance carriers under federal price transparency rules.

What's inside this number

Part of the billTypicalRange
Physician feeThe doctor who performs it$457$288 to $603
Facility feeThe hospital or surgery center$977$575 to $1,585

How much rates vary

Facilitymedian $977 · 10th to 90th $398 to $3,162Professionalmedian $457 · 10th to 90th $214 to $871
$200$500$1K$2K$5Kfacility $977professional $457

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
$169.82
Median
$288.40
Typical High
$7,585.78
Aetna
Setting
Professional
Modifier
None
Typical Low
$169.82
Median
$288.40
Typical High
$398.11
Ambetter
Setting
Professional
Modifier
None
Typical Low
$141.25
Median
$141.25
Typical High
$141.25
BCBS North Carolina
Setting
Facility
Modifier
None
Typical Low
$575.44
Median
$891.25
Typical High
$2,290.87
BCBS North Carolina
Setting
Professional
Modifier
None
Typical Low
$288.40
Median
$489.78
Typical High
$891.25
Cigna
Setting
Facility
Modifier
None
Typical Low
$602.56
Median
$1,380.38
Typical High
$1,819.70
Cigna
Setting
Professional
Modifier
None
Typical Low
$223.87
Median
$380.19
Typical High
$616.60
Medcost
Setting
Facility
Modifier
None
Typical Low
$346.74
Median
$602.56
Typical High
$1,174.90
Medcost
Setting
Professional
Modifier
None
Typical Low
$263.03
Median
$436.52
Typical High
$602.56
United
Setting
Facility
Modifier
None
Typical Low
$478.63
Median
$831.76
Typical High
$4,365.16
United
Setting
Professional
Modifier
None
Typical Low
$177.83
Median
$331.13
Typical High
$645.65
7 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
$85.11
Median
$141.25
Typical High
$158.49
Aetna
Setting
Professional
Modifier
53 · Discontinued
Typical Low
$34.67
Median
$56.23
Typical High
$63.10
Aetna
Setting
Professional
Modifier
54 · Surgery only
Typical Low
$128.82
Median
$213.80
Typical High
$234.42
Aetna
Setting
Professional
Modifier
55 · Aftercare only
Typical Low
$25.70
Median
$42.66
Typical High
$46.77
Aetna
Setting
Professional
Modifier
56 · Pre-op care only
Typical Low
$16.98
Median
$28.18
Typical High
$31.62
Medcost
Setting
Facility
Modifier
51 · Multiple procedures
Typical Low
$234.42
Median
$331.13
Typical High
$812.83
Medcost
Setting
Professional
Modifier
51 · Multiple procedures
Typical Low
$131.83
Median
$218.78
Typical High
$398.11

Where North Carolina sits

The same service costs 7.0 times more in Vermont than in North Dakota. 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

North Carolina· 33rd of 51

$1,434

$457 physician + $977 facility

VT $4,790ND $687

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.