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Balloon Tube Placement To Control Bleeding Varices

Washington rates for HCPCS 43460

This service places a special tube with inflatable balloons through the mouth or nose into the esophagus and stomach to apply direct pressure and control severe bleeding from enlarged, fragile veins called varices. It is an emergency measure used when bleeding cannot be controlled by other means, buying time until more definitive treatment can be arranged. The balloons compress the bleeding vessels from within.

Rates data updated October 2026.

How much does Balloon Tube Placement To Control Bleeding Varices cost?

$1,003

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

Insurers have agreed to pay about $1,003 for this procedure. That total is two separate charges: $295 to the doctor who performs it, and $708 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 10 insurance carriers under federal price transparency rules.

What's inside this number

Part of the billTypicalRange
Physician feeThe doctor who performs it$295$229 to $398
Facility feeThe hospital or surgery center$708$513 to $1,122

How much rates vary

Facilitymedian $708 · 10th to 90th $347 to $2,188Professionalmedian $295 · 10th to 90th $166 to $525
$100$500$2K$10Kfacility $708professional $295

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
$288.40
Median
$7,943.28
Typical High
$27,542.29
Aetna
Setting
Professional
Modifier
None
Typical Low
$234.42
Median
$288.40
Typical High
$302.00
Asuris Northwest Health
Setting
Facility
Modifier
None
Typical Low
$30.20
Median
$141.25
Typical High
$1,318.26
Asuris Northwest Health
Setting
Professional
Modifier
None
Typical Low
$331.13
Median
$524.81
Typical High
$1,862.09
Cigna
Setting
Facility
Modifier
None
Typical Low
$707.95
Median
$891.25
Typical High
$2,691.53
Cigna
Setting
Professional
Modifier
None
Typical Low
$257.04
Median
$257.04
Typical High
$549.54
Kaiser Permanente
Setting
Professional
Modifier
None
Typical Low
$194.98
Median
$331.13
Typical High
$549.54
Molina
Setting
Professional
Modifier
None
Typical Low
$162.18
Median
$295.12
Typical High
$501.19
Pacific Source
Setting
Facility
Modifier
None
Typical Low
$323.59
Median
$407.38
Typical High
$416.87
Premera BCBS
Setting
Facility
Modifier
None
Typical Low
$281.84
Median
$281.84
Typical High
$288.40
Premera BCBS
Setting
Professional
Modifier
None
Typical Low
$288.40
Median
$288.40
Typical High
$288.40
Regence BlueShield
Setting
Professional
Modifier
None
Typical Low
$331.13
Median
$331.13
Typical High
$478.63
United
Setting
Facility
Modifier
None
Typical Low
$524.81
Median
$758.58
Typical High
$1,584.89
United
Setting
Professional
Modifier
None
Typical Low
$245.47
Median
$302.00
Typical High
$549.54
Wellpoint
Setting
Professional
Modifier
None
Typical Low
$190.55
Median
$257.04
Typical High
$389.05
5 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
$114.82
Median
$144.54
Typical High
$144.54
Aetna
Setting
Professional
Modifier
53 · Discontinued
Typical Low
$45.71
Median
$57.54
Typical High
$57.54
Aetna
Setting
Professional
Modifier
54 · Surgery only
Typical Low
$173.78
Median
$213.80
Typical High
$213.80
Aetna
Setting
Professional
Modifier
55 · Aftercare only
Typical Low
$34.67
Median
$43.65
Typical High
$43.65
Aetna
Setting
Professional
Modifier
56 · Pre-op care only
Typical Low
$22.91
Median
$28.84
Typical High
$28.84

Where Washington sits

The same service costs 13.4 times more in Maine 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

Washington· 43rd of 51

$1,003

$295 physician + $708 facility

ME $8,787MT $655

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.