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Brain Cyst Removal Or Drainage, Upper Brain

Arizona rates for HCPCS 61516

Opens the skull to reach a fluid-filled cyst in the upper part of the brain and either takes it out or cuts a lasting opening in its wall so the fluid drains into the surrounding spaces. Relieving the cyst takes pressure off the brain tissue around it. The opening may be a small drilled hole, a piece of bone taken out and left out, or a bone flap lifted and put back at the end.

Rates data updated October 2026.

How much does Brain Cyst Removal Or Drainage, Upper Brain cost?

$3,768

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

Insurers have agreed to pay about $3,768 for this procedure. That total is two separate charges: $1,862 to the doctor who performs it, and $1,905 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 5 insurance carriers under federal price transparency rules.

What's inside this number

Part of the billTypicalRange
Physician feeThe doctor who performs it$1,862$1,698 to $2,754
Facility feeThe hospital or surgery center$1,905$977 to $4,677

How much rates vary

Facilitymedian $1,905 · 10th to 90th $174 to $7,762Professionalmedian $1,862 · 10th to 90th $1,660 to $15,849
$100$500$2K$10Kfacility $1,905professional $1,862

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
$977.24
Median
$3,715.35
Typical High
$7,585.78
Aetna
Setting
Professional
Modifier
None
Typical Low
$1,659.59
Median
$1,659.59
Typical High
$1,949.84
BCBS Arizona
Setting
Facility
Modifier
None
Typical Low
$1,659.59
Median
$3,981.07
Typical High
$10,232.93
BCBS Arizona
Setting
Professional
Modifier
None
Typical Low
$1,862.09
Median
$1,995.26
Typical High
$4,168.69
Cigna
Setting
Facility
Modifier
None
Typical Low
$602.56
Median
$2,089.30
Typical High
$2,691.53
Cigna
Setting
Professional
Modifier
None
Typical Low
$1,621.81
Median
$1,862.09
Typical High
$3,311.31
Medica
Setting
Facility
Modifier
None
Typical Low
$104.71
Median
$1,096.48
Typical High
$5,128.61
Medica
Setting
Professional
Modifier
None
Typical Low
$1,659.59
Median
$2,511.89
Typical High
$15,848.93
United
Setting
Facility
Modifier
None
Typical Low
$104.71
Median
$1,148.15
Typical High
$5,128.61
United
Setting
Professional
Modifier
None
Typical Low
$1,621.81
Median
$1,905.46
Typical High
$3,467.37
6 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
$812.83
Median
$812.83
Typical High
$831.76
Aetna
Setting
Professional
Modifier
53 · Discontinued
Typical Low
$331.13
Median
$331.13
Typical High
$331.13
Aetna
Setting
Professional
Modifier
54 · Surgery only
Typical Low
$1,230.27
Median
$1,230.27
Typical High
$1,258.93
Aetna
Setting
Professional
Modifier
55 · Aftercare only
Typical Low
$245.47
Median
$245.47
Typical High
$251.19
Aetna
Setting
Professional
Modifier
56 · Pre-op care only
Typical Low
$165.96
Median
$165.96
Typical High
$165.96
Aetna
Setting
Professional
Modifier
78 · Unplanned return to OR
Typical Low
$1,148.15
Median
$1,148.15
Typical High
$1,174.90

Where Arizona sits

The same service costs 13.4 times more in Maine than in Maryland. 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

Arizona· 38th of 51

$3,768

$1,862 physician + $1,905 facility

ME $34,930MD $2,604

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.