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First Fluid Tap Through An Infant's Soft Spot

Alabama rates for HCPCS 61000

A needle is passed through the soft spot or a suture line on a baby's skull to draw off fluid or blood that has collected between the brain and its covering. This is the first such tap, relieving pressure on the developing brain and providing a sample for testing. It is done at the bedside and takes only a few minutes.

Rates data updated July 2026.

How much does First Fluid Tap Through An Infant's Soft Spot cost?

$182

Typical negotiated rate. In Alabama, July 2026.

Insurers have agreed to pay about $182 for this service. The price depends on where it is billed: about $170 from a physician practice, and about $832 from a hospital or other facility. The two figures are alternatives, not parts of one bill.

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.

Where it's billed changes the price

Billed byTypicalRange
Physician practiceA doctor's office, clinic or independent provider$170$115 to $170
FacilityA hospital or hospital-owned outpatient department$832$661 to $1,259

How much rates vary

Facilitymedian $832 · 10th to 90th $562 to $2,042Professionalmedian $170 · 10th to 90th $100 to $269
$100$200$500$1K$2Kfacility $832professional $170

Distribution of negotiated rates across all payers (price axis is log-scale). Each curve is scaled to its own total: facility and professional rates are different services, shown together to compare where they cluster. Need provider-level prices or 24+ months of history? Contact us.

Rates by insurance carrier

Insurance Carrier
Aetna
Setting
Facility
Modifier
Global
Typical Low
$562.34
Median
$954.99
Typical High
$2,398.83
Aetna
Setting
Professional
Modifier
Global
Typical Low
$100.00
Median
$169.82
Typical High
$269.15
BCBS
Setting
Facility
Modifier
Global
Typical Low
$602.56
Median
$724.44
Typical High
$954.99
BCBS
Setting
Professional
Modifier
Global
Typical Low
$104.71
Median
$141.25
Typical High
$165.96
Cigna
Setting
Professional
Modifier
Global
Typical Low
$112.20
Median
$151.36
Typical High
$338.84
United
Setting
Facility
Modifier
Global
Typical Low
$398.11
Median
$1,148.15
Typical High
$2,511.89
United
Setting
Professional
Modifier
Global
Typical Low
$87.10
Median
$112.20
Typical High
$186.21

Where Alabama sits

The same service costs 29.5 times more in California than in Delaware. 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.

Alabama· 32nd of 51

$182

CA $3,162DE $107

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.