Placing a Fluid Reservoir or Pump Under the Scalp

Nationwide rates for HCPCS 61215

Puts a small reservoir or pump just beneath the skin and connects it to a catheter sitting in the fluid-filled chamber of the brain. Once in place it can be used to draw off spinal fluid or to deliver medicine straight into that space through the skin, without a fresh brain procedure each time. It is often used for chemotherapy or antibiotics that have to reach the brain fluid directly.

Rates data updated July 2026.

How much does Placing a Fluid Reservoir or Pump Under the Scalp cost?

$6,455

Typical total for the visit. Nationwide, July 2026.

Insurers have agreed to pay about $6,455 for this procedure. That total is two separate charges: $832 to the doctor who performs it, and $5,623 to the hospital or surgery center where it takes place. Done somewhere without a facility charge, you pay only the first.

13% physician fee87% facility fee

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 52 insurance carriers under federal price transparency rules.

What's inside this number

Part of the bill	Who charges it	Typical	Range
Physician feeThe doctor who performs it	The doctor who performs it	$832	$631 to $1,202
Facility feeThe hospital or surgery center	The hospital or surgery center	$5,623	$2,630 to $9,772

How much rates vary

Facilitymedian $5,623 · 10th to 90th $933 to $15,136Professionalmedian $832 · 10th to 90th $525 to $1,950

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	Facility/Professional	Modifier	Typical Low	Median	Typical High
Aetna Setting Facility Modifier Global Typical Low $794.33 Median $4,073.80 Typical High $10,964.78	Facility	Global	$794.33	$4,073.80	$10,964.78
BCBS Setting Facility Modifier Global Typical Low $2,454.71 Median $7,413.10 Typical High $16,982.44	Facility	Global	$2,454.71	$7,413.10	$16,982.44
Cigna Setting Facility Modifier Global Typical Low $954.99 Median $1,778.28 Typical High $4,897.79	Facility	Global	$954.99	$1,778.28	$4,897.79
United Setting Facility Modifier Global Typical Low $2,398.83 Median $7,413.10 Typical High $19,952.62	Facility	Global	$2,398.83	$7,413.10	$19,952.62

What it costs in each state

The same service costs 5.5 times more in Wisconsin than in Oregon. 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

Touch or drag across the chart to see any state's rate.

WI $11,884OR $2,148

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.