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Brain Cyst Removal Or Drainage, Upper Brain

Massachusetts 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?

$5,015

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

Insurers have agreed to pay about $5,015 for this procedure. That total is two separate charges: $3,020 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 8 insurance carriers under federal price transparency rules.

What's inside this number

Part of the billTypicalRange
Physician feeThe doctor who performs it$3,020$2,291 to $5,754
Facility feeThe hospital or surgery center$1,995$794 to $2,884

How much rates vary

Facilitymedian $1,995 · 10th to 90th $407 to $4,074Professionalmedian $3,020 · 10th to 90th $1,862 to $15,849
$100$200$500$1K$2K$5K$10Kfacility $1,995professional $3,020

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
$2,691.53
Median
$3,090.30
Typical High
$5,128.61
Aetna
Setting
Professional
Modifier
None
Typical Low
$1,862.09
Median
$1,862.09
Typical High
$3,162.28
AllWays Health Partners
Setting
Facility
Modifier
None
Typical Low
$346.74
Median
$1,047.13
Typical High
$4,677.35
AllWays Health Partners
Setting
Professional
Modifier
None
Typical Low
$1,949.84
Median
$5,248.07
Typical High
$15,848.93
Cigna
Setting
Facility
Modifier
None
Typical Low
$50.12
Median
$954.99
Typical High
$1,380.38
Cigna
Setting
Professional
Modifier
None
Typical Low
$2,570.40
Median
$2,570.40
Typical High
$5,128.61
Fallon Health
Setting
Facility
Modifier
None
Typical Low
$1,995.26
Median
$2,454.71
Typical High
$3,467.37
Fallon Health
Setting
Professional
Modifier
None
Typical Low
$2,137.96
Median
$2,511.89
Typical High
$3,090.30
Harvard Pilgrim
Setting
Facility
Modifier
None
Typical Low
$295.12
Median
$954.99
Typical High
$4,073.80
Harvard Pilgrim
Setting
Professional
Modifier
None
Typical Low
$2,187.76
Median
$3,981.07
Typical High
$6,025.60
Mass General Brigham
Setting
Facility
Modifier
None
Typical Low
$346.74
Median
$1,047.13
Typical High
$4,677.35
Mass General Brigham
Setting
Professional
Modifier
None
Typical Low
$1,949.84
Median
$5,248.07
Typical High
$15,848.93
United
Setting
Facility
Modifier
None
Typical Low
$295.12
Median
$1,023.29
Typical High
$4,073.80
United
Setting
Professional
Modifier
None
Typical Low
$2,089.30
Median
$2,951.21
Typical High
$7,762.47
Well Sense
Setting
Facility
Modifier
None
Typical Low
$1,380.38
Median
$1,862.09
Typical High
$2,818.38
Well Sense
Setting
Professional
Modifier
None
Typical Low
$1,288.25
Median
$1,288.25
Typical High
$1,548.82
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
$933.25
Median
$933.25
Typical High
$2,511.89
Aetna
Setting
Professional
Modifier
53 · Discontinued
Typical Low
$380.19
Median
$380.19
Typical High
$1,000.00
Aetna
Setting
Professional
Modifier
54 · Surgery only
Typical Low
$1,412.54
Median
$1,412.54
Typical High
$3,801.89
Aetna
Setting
Professional
Modifier
55 · Aftercare only
Typical Low
$281.84
Median
$281.84
Typical High
$758.58
Aetna
Setting
Professional
Modifier
56 · Pre-op care only
Typical Low
$186.21
Median
$186.21
Typical High
$501.19
Aetna
Setting
Professional
Modifier
78 · Unplanned return to OR
Typical Low
$1,318.26
Median
$1,318.26
Typical High
$3,548.13

Where Massachusetts 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

Massachusetts· 24th of 51

$5,015

$3,020 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.