go back

Removing Lymph Nodes Behind the Breastbone

Alabama rates for HCPCS 38530

Removes or samples the lymph nodes lying just behind the breastbone, alongside the vessels that run down the inside of the front chest wall. They are reached through a small chest incision and examined under a microscope, usually to see whether a breast cancer has spread along that drainage route. It is done when those nodes matter to staging or to planning treatment.

Rates data updated October 2026.

How much does Removing Lymph Nodes Behind the Breastbone cost?

$4,800

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

Insurers have agreed to pay about $4,800 for this procedure. That total is two separate charges: $631 to the doctor who performs it, and $4,169 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$631$550 to $871
Facility feeThe hospital or surgery center$4,169$1,660 to $4,266

How much rates vary

Facilitymedian $4,169 · 10th to 90th $871 to $4,266Professionalmedian $631 · 10th to 90th $490 to $871
$500$1K$2K$5Kfacility $4,169professional $631

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
$645.65
Median
$1,230.27
Typical High
$2,398.83
Aetna
Setting
Professional
Modifier
None
Typical Low
$645.65
Median
$870.96
Typical High
$870.96
BCBS Alabama
Setting
Facility
Modifier
None
Typical Low
$4,168.69
Median
$4,265.80
Typical High
$4,265.80
BCBS Alabama
Setting
Professional
Modifier
21 + 22 · Increased work + 24 · Unrelated visit after surgery
Typical Low
$501.19
Median
$691.83
Typical High
$891.25
Cigna
Setting
Facility
Modifier
None
Typical Low
$489.78
Median
$1,513.56
Typical High
$1,905.46
Cigna
Setting
Professional
Modifier
None
Typical Low
$537.03
Median
$588.84
Typical High
$831.76
United
Setting
Facility
Modifier
None
Typical Low
$758.58
Median
$1,737.80
Typical High
$4,265.80
United
Setting
Professional
Modifier
None
Typical Low
$446.68
Median
$549.54
Typical High
$812.83
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
$436.52
Median
$436.52
Typical High
$436.52
Aetna
Setting
Professional
Modifier
53 · Discontinued
Typical Low
$177.83
Median
$177.83
Typical High
$177.83
Aetna
Setting
Professional
Modifier
54 · Surgery only
Typical Low
$660.69
Median
$660.69
Typical High
$660.69
Aetna
Setting
Professional
Modifier
55 · Aftercare only
Typical Low
$131.83
Median
$131.83
Typical High
$131.83
Aetna
Setting
Professional
Modifier
56 · Pre-op care only
Typical Low
$87.10
Median
$87.10
Typical High
$87.10
Aetna
Setting
Professional
Modifier
78 · Unplanned return to OR
Typical Low
$616.60
Median
$616.60
Typical High
$616.60
BCBS Alabama
Setting
Facility
Modifier
50 · Both sides
Typical Low
$6,309.57
Median
$6,309.57
Typical High
$6,309.57

Where Alabama sits

The same service costs 3.8 times more in Wisconsin 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

Alabama· 6th of 51

$4,800

$631 physician + $4,169 facility

WI $6,907MT $1,803

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.