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CPT 00326: Anesthesia for Larynx and Trachea Procedures in Infants
CPT code 00326 designates anesthesia for procedures on the larynx and trachea in infants under one year of age. This narrowly focused pediatric anesthesia code captures the specialized airway management and anesthetic care required for very young patients undergoing laryngeal or tracheal procedures. Nationally, accurate use of this code supports appropriate billing for high-acuity pediatric airway services and helps distinguish infant airway anesthesia from general pediatric or adult airway codes.
Key payers covered in this analysis include Aetna, Blue Cross Blue Shield, Cigna Health, UnitedHealthcare, and Medicare. Readers will find a concise clinical context for the code, clarity on the typical service setting, and connections to related anesthesia and spine procedure codes where relevant. The publication summarizes common payer considerations and coding adjacency, including related anesthesia codes for other spinal and regional procedures and select surgical procedure codes that often coincide with complex airway care.
This resource is intended to inform coding professionals, anesthesia departments, and revenue cycle teams about the clinical scope of 00326, typical billing contexts, and where this code fits within anesthesia service lines and operative settings. Data not available in the input for specific payer policies or reimbursement benchmarks is noted as unavailable; the focus remains on code definition, clinical relevance, and common coding adjacencies.
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Billing Code Overview
CPT code 00326 describes anesthesia services provided for any procedure on the larynx and trachea in children younger than one year of age. The service type is pediatric airway anesthesia for laryngeal and tracheal procedures. The typical site of service is an operative setting such as an ambulatory surgery center or inpatient operating room where pediatric airway surgery is performed.
National Reimbursement Benchmarks
For CPT 00326 the BUCA average commercial rate sits at $83.20, offering a useful midpoint against individual payer spreads. Blue Cross Blue Shield has a fairly tight interquartile spread (P75–P25 = $41.00), and UnitedHealth Group is similarly constrained with a spread of $30.00, indicating less variability among contracted commercial rates. Aetna and Cigna show wider dispersion: Aetna’s interquartile range is $77.50 and Cigna’s is $55.30, pointing to greater variability in negotiated rates across providers.
Looking across extremes, Aetna and Cigna also reach higher upper bounds with max rates of $294.00 and $172.60 respectively, while UnitedHealth Group’s max is $122.70 and Blue Cross Blue Shield’s is $220.80. The combination of BUCA’s $83.20 average and the payer-specific spreads highlights where market rate consistency is stronger (UnitedHealth Group, Blue Cross Blue Shield) versus more variable (Aetna, Cigna).