go back

Brain Cyst Removal Or Drainage, Upper Brain

Kentucky 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?

$3,901

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

Insurers have agreed to pay about $3,901 for this procedure. That total is two separate charges: $1,905 to the doctor who performs it, and $1,995 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 6 insurance carriers under federal price transparency rules.

What's inside this number

Part of the billTypicalRange
Physician feeThe doctor who performs it$1,905$1,698 to $2,512
Facility feeThe hospital or surgery center$1,995$759 to $9,550

How much rates vary

Facilitymedian $1,995 · 10th to 90th $457 to $13,490Professionalmedian $1,905 · 10th to 90th $1,514 to $3,020
$100$1K$10Kfacility $1,995professional $1,905

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
$1,584.89
Median
$1,819.70
Typical High
$1,949.84
Aetna
Setting
Professional
Modifier
None
Typical Low
$1,584.89
Median
$1,698.24
Typical High
$1,949.84
Anthem BCBS
Setting
Facility
Modifier
None
Typical Low
$7,244.36
Median
$10,715.19
Typical High
$19,498.45
Anthem BCBS
Setting
Professional
Modifier
None
Typical Low
$1,513.56
Median
$1,819.70
Typical High
$2,570.40
Anthem BCBS
Setting
Professional
Modifier
62 · Two surgeons
Typical Low
$933.25
Median
$1,148.15
Typical High
$1,621.81
Anthem BCBS
Setting
Professional
Modifier
80 · Assistant surgeon
Typical Low
$239.88
Median
$288.40
Typical High
$407.38
Anthem BCBS
Setting
Professional
Modifier
AS · PA/NP assist
Typical Low
$208.93
Median
$251.19
Typical High
$363.08
CareSource
Setting
Facility
Modifier
None
Typical Low
$1,479.11
Median
$1,778.28
Typical High
$2,818.38
CareSource
Setting
Professional
Modifier
None
Typical Low
$1,584.89
Median
$2,454.71
Typical High
$2,884.03
Cigna
Setting
Facility
Modifier
None
Typical Low
$34.67
Median
$691.83
Typical High
$3,162.28
Cigna
Setting
Professional
Modifier
None
Typical Low
$1,778.28
Median
$2,570.40
Typical High
$10,232.93
Molina
Setting
Professional
Modifier
None
Typical Low
$33.11
Median
$33.11
Typical High
$33.11
United
Setting
Facility
Modifier
None
Typical Low
$354.81
Median
$912.01
Typical High
$8,317.64
United
Setting
Professional
Modifier
None
Typical Low
$1,819.70
Median
$2,290.87
Typical High
$3,311.31
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
$776.25
Median
$851.14
Typical High
$977.24
Aetna
Setting
Professional
Modifier
53 · Discontinued
Typical Low
$316.23
Median
$338.84
Typical High
$389.05
Aetna
Setting
Professional
Modifier
54 · Surgery only
Typical Low
$1,174.90
Median
$1,288.25
Typical High
$1,445.44
Aetna
Setting
Professional
Modifier
55 · Aftercare only
Typical Low
$234.42
Median
$257.04
Typical High
$288.40
Aetna
Setting
Professional
Modifier
56 · Pre-op care only
Typical Low
$158.49
Median
$169.82
Typical High
$194.98
Aetna
Setting
Professional
Modifier
78 · Unplanned return to OR
Typical Low
$1,096.48
Median
$1,202.26
Typical High
$1,348.96

Where Kentucky 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

Kentucky· 37th of 51

$3,901

$1,905 physician + $1,995 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.