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Chest Tube Insertion For Drainage

Tennessee 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?

$1,261

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

Insurers have agreed to pay about $1,261 for this procedure. That total is two separate charges: $214 to the doctor who performs it, and $1,047 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$214$166 to $316
Facility feeThe hospital or surgery center$1,047$708 to $1,905

How much rates vary

Facilitymedian $1,047 · 10th to 90th $468 to $2,630Professionalmedian $214 · 10th to 90th $141 to $1,778
$200$500$1K$2K$5Kfacility $1,047professional $214

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
$1,071.52
Median
$2,398.83
Typical High
$7,585.78
Aetna
Setting
Professional
Modifier
None
Typical Low
$138.04
Median
$186.21
Typical High
$354.81
Ambetter
Setting
Professional
Modifier
None
Typical Low
$173.78
Median
$173.78
Typical High
$316.23
BCBS Tennessee
Setting
Facility
Modifier
None
Typical Low
$575.44
Median
$1,148.15
Typical High
$2,754.23
BCBS Tennessee
Setting
Professional
Modifier
None
Typical Low
$165.96
Median
$218.78
Typical High
$371.54
Cigna
Setting
Facility
Modifier
None
Typical Low
$489.78
Median
$812.83
Typical High
$1,659.59
Cigna
Setting
Professional
Modifier
None
Typical Low
$141.25
Median
$204.17
Typical High
$316.23
Lucent Health
Setting
Professional
Modifier
None
Typical Low
$1,778.28
Median
$1,778.28
Typical High
$1,778.28
United
Setting
Facility
Modifier
None
Typical Low
$346.74
Median
$1,047.13
Typical High
$2,511.89
United
Setting
Professional
Modifier
None
Typical Low
$151.36
Median
$229.09
Typical High
$354.81
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
$102.33
Median
$107.15
Typical High
$162.18

Where Tennessee 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

Tennessee· 30th of 51

$1,261

$214 physician + $1,047 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.