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Esophagus Stretching Over a Guide Wire

Alabama rates for HCPCS 43226

A flexible scope is passed through the mouth into the food pipe, a guide wire is threaded through the narrowed section, and tapered dilators are passed over that wire to stretch the narrowing open. The wire keeps the dilators on a safe path through the tight segment. It relieves food sticking and difficulty swallowing.

Rates data updated October 2026.

How much does Esophagus Stretching Over a Guide Wire cost?

$1,643

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

Insurers have agreed to pay about $1,643 for this procedure. That total is two separate charges: $263 to the doctor who performs it, and $1,380 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$263$155 to $407
Facility feeThe hospital or surgery center$1,380$1,000 to $1,413

How much rates vary

Facilitymedian $1,380 · 10th to 90th $562 to $1,950Professionalmedian $263 · 10th to 90th $126 to $741
$100$200$500$1K$2Kfacility $1,380professional $263

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
$562.34
Median
$954.99
Typical High
$2,398.83
Aetna
Setting
Professional
Modifier
None
Typical Low
$263.03
Median
$323.59
Typical High
$741.31
Aetna
Setting
Professional
Modifier
52 · Reduced service
Typical Low
$131.83
Median
$134.90
Typical High
$371.54
Aetna
Setting
Professional
Modifier
53 · Discontinued
Typical Low
$52.48
Median
$53.70
Typical High
$147.91
Aetna
Setting
Professional
Modifier
54 · Surgery only
Typical Low
$194.98
Median
$204.17
Typical High
$549.54
Aetna
Setting
Professional
Modifier
55 · Aftercare only
Typical Low
$38.90
Median
$40.74
Typical High
$109.65
Aetna
Setting
Professional
Modifier
56 · Pre-op care only
Typical Low
$26.30
Median
$26.92
Typical High
$74.13
BCBS Alabama
Setting
Facility
Modifier
None
Typical Low
$1,380.38
Median
$1,412.54
Typical High
$1,412.54
BCBS Alabama
Setting
Professional
Modifier
None
Typical Low
$707.95
Median
$707.95
Typical High
$707.95
Cigna
Setting
Facility
Modifier
None
Typical Low
$363.08
Median
$851.14
Typical High
$1,047.13
Cigna
Setting
Professional
Modifier
None
Typical Low
$154.88
Median
$190.55
Typical High
$407.38
United
Setting
Facility
Modifier
None
Typical Low
$467.74
Median
$1,000.00
Typical High
$3,162.28
United
Setting
Professional
Modifier
None
Typical Low
$107.15
Median
$218.78
Typical High
$389.05
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
BCBS Alabama
Setting
Professional
Modifier
32 · Mandated service
Typical Low
$269.15
Median
$363.08
Typical High
$512.86

Where Alabama sits

The same service costs 5.7 times more in Colorado 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· 22nd of 51

$1,643

$263 physician + $1,380 facility

CO $4,090MT $722

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.