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Chest Tube Insertion For Drainage

Colorado rates for HCPCS 32551

Places a tube through the chest wall into the space around the lung to drain air, blood, pus or other fluid. The tube is put in through a small open incision and connected to a collection and suction system that keeps the space empty while it heals. It is used for a collapsed lung or a build-up of fluid pressing on the lung.

Rates data updated October 2026.

How much does Chest Tube Insertion For Drainage cost?

$4,120

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

Insurers have agreed to pay about $4,120 for this procedure. That total is two separate charges: $229 to the doctor who performs it, and $3,890 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 7 insurance carriers under federal price transparency rules.

What's inside this number

Part of the billTypicalRange
Physician feeThe doctor who performs it$229$191 to $295
Facility feeThe hospital or surgery center$3,890$1,230 to $5,754

How much rates vary

Facilitymedian $3,890 · 10th to 90th $631 to $8,511Professionalmedian $229 · 10th to 90th $170 to $355
$200$500$1K$2K$5K$10Kfacility $3,890professional $229

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
$1,258.93
Median
$3,548.13
Typical High
$9,120.11
Aetna
Setting
Professional
Modifier
None
Typical Low
$154.88
Median
$177.83
Typical High
$380.19
Anthem BCBS
Setting
Facility
Modifier
None
Typical Low
$3,715.35
Median
$5,248.07
Typical High
$9,332.54
Anthem BCBS
Setting
Professional
Modifier
None
Typical Low
$177.83
Median
$245.47
Typical High
$363.08
Cigna
Setting
Facility
Modifier
None
Typical Low
$524.81
Median
$977.24
Typical High
$1,659.59
Cigna
Setting
Professional
Modifier
None
Typical Low
$186.21
Median
$223.87
Typical High
$302.00
Denver HMP
Setting
Facility
Modifier
None
Typical Low
$177.83
Median
$223.87
Typical High
$354.81
Kaiser Permanente
Setting
Professional
Modifier
None
Typical Low
$141.25
Median
$199.53
Typical High
$309.03
Select Health
Setting
Facility
Modifier
None
Typical Low
$141.25
Median
$281.84
Typical High
$1,071.52
Select Health
Setting
Professional
Modifier
None
Typical Low
$100.00
Median
$141.25
Typical High
$275.42
United
Setting
Facility
Modifier
None
Typical Low
$489.78
Median
$1,122.02
Typical High
$2,884.03
United
Setting
Professional
Modifier
None
Typical Low
$186.21
Median
$239.88
Typical High
$363.08
1 more rate 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
54 · Surgery only
Typical Low
$131.83
Median
$134.90
Typical High
$144.54

Where Colorado sits

The same service costs 9.1 times more in Colorado than in West Virginia. 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

Colorado· 1st of 51

$4,120

$229 physician + $3,890 facility

CO $4,120WV $453

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.