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Chest Tube Insertion For Drainage

Delaware 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?

$707

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

Insurers have agreed to pay about $707 for this procedure. That total is two separate charges: $182 to the doctor who performs it, and $525 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 4 insurance carriers under federal price transparency rules.

What's inside this number

Part of the billTypicalRange
Physician feeThe doctor who performs it$182$155 to $240
Facility feeThe hospital or surgery center$525$347 to $1,047

How much rates vary

Facilitymedian $525 · 10th to 90th $229 to $1,698Professionalmedian $182 · 10th to 90th $151 to $363
$200$500$1K$2K$5Kfacility $525professional $182

Distribution of negotiated rates across all payers (price axis is log-scale). Small sample; interpret with caution. Need provider-level prices or 24+ months of history? Contact us.

Rates by insurance carrier

Insurance Carrier
Aetna
Setting
Facility
Modifier
None
Typical Low
$147.91
Median
$151.36
Typical High
$7,244.36
Aetna
Setting
Professional
Modifier
None
Typical Low
$151.36
Median
$162.18
Typical High
$363.08
Cigna
Setting
Facility
Modifier
None
Typical Low
$416.87
Median
$812.83
Typical High
$1,288.25
Cigna
Setting
Professional
Modifier
None
Typical Low
$151.36
Median
$199.53
Typical High
$316.23
Highmark BCBS
Setting
Facility
Modifier
None
Typical Low
$7,585.78
Median
$7,585.78
Typical High
$7,585.78
United
Setting
Facility
Modifier
None
Typical Low
$229.09
Median
$398.11
Typical High
$1,698.24
United
Setting
Professional
Modifier
None
Typical Low
$131.83
Median
$190.55
Typical High
$302.00
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
Highmark BCBS
Setting
Professional
Modifier
GC · Resident with teaching physician
Typical Low
$162.18
Median
$162.18
Typical High
$162.18

Where Delaware 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

Delaware· 48th of 51

$707

$182 physician + $525 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.