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Brain Cyst Removal Or Drainage, Upper Brain

Georgia 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?

$4,240

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

Insurers have agreed to pay about $4,240 for this procedure. That total is two separate charges: $2,692 to the doctor who performs it, and $1,549 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$2,692$2,188 to $3,311
Facility feeThe hospital or surgery center$1,549$661 to $5,248

How much rates vary

Facilitymedian $1,549 · 10th to 90th $513 to $11,482Professionalmedian $2,692 · 10th to 90th $1,820 to $5,012
$500$1K$2K$5K$10K$20Kfacility $1,549professional $2,692

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
$1,905.46
Median
$5,370.32
Typical High
$7,943.28
Aetna
Setting
Professional
Modifier
None
Typical Low
$1,905.46
Median
$2,089.30
Typical High
$5,128.61
Anthem BCBS
Setting
Facility
Modifier
None
Typical Low
$1,122.02
Median
$3,162.28
Typical High
$16,218.10
Anthem BCBS
Setting
Professional
Modifier
None
Typical Low
$1,819.70
Median
$2,691.53
Typical High
$4,677.35
Anthem BCBS
Setting
Professional
Modifier
62 · Two surgeons
Typical Low
$1,202.26
Median
$1,698.24
Typical High
$3,019.95
Anthem BCBS
Setting
Professional
Modifier
80 · Assistant surgeon
Typical Low
$302.00
Median
$467.74
Typical High
$776.25
Anthem BCBS
Setting
Professional
Modifier
AS · PA/NP assist
Typical Low
$269.15
Median
$371.54
Typical High
$660.69
Cigna
Setting
Facility
Modifier
None
Typical Low
$446.68
Median
$549.54
Typical High
$2,511.89
Cigna
Setting
Professional
Modifier
None
Typical Low
$2,187.76
Median
$3,162.28
Typical High
$5,754.40
Kaiser Permanente
Setting
Professional
Modifier
None
Typical Low
$1,905.46
Median
$2,398.83
Typical High
$5,011.87
United
Setting
Facility
Modifier
None
Typical Low
$371.54
Median
$645.65
Typical High
$3,981.07
United
Setting
Professional
Modifier
None
Typical Low
$1,905.46
Median
$2,754.23
Typical High
$5,888.44
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
$954.99
Median
$954.99
Typical High
$1,122.02
Aetna
Setting
Professional
Modifier
53 · Discontinued
Typical Low
$380.19
Median
$380.19
Typical High
$446.68
Aetna
Setting
Professional
Modifier
54 · Surgery only
Typical Low
$1,445.44
Median
$1,445.44
Typical High
$1,659.59
Aetna
Setting
Professional
Modifier
55 · Aftercare only
Typical Low
$288.40
Median
$288.40
Typical High
$331.13
Aetna
Setting
Professional
Modifier
56 · Pre-op care only
Typical Low
$190.55
Median
$190.55
Typical High
$223.87
Aetna
Setting
Professional
Modifier
78 · Unplanned return to OR
Typical Low
$1,348.96
Median
$1,348.96
Typical High
$1,548.82

Where Georgia 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

Georgia· 31st of 51

$4,240

$2,692 physician + $1,549 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.