Carthage sees $752,938 in Medicaid spending for ambulance and transport supplies in 2024

In 2024, Medicaid providers in Carthage charged $752,938 for Ambulance and Other Transport Services and Supplies, per data from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Medicaid Provider Spending database. This amount reflects a 28.1% rise from 2023, when providers billed $587,780 for these services.

Medicaid, administered by states and funded in partnership with the federal government, provides health insurance to low-income people, seniors, children, and individuals with disabilities, comprising a significant portion of the U.S. health care framework.

As Medicaid funds are derived from public sources, shifts in local billing reflect how community health care resources are allocated.

The “Ambulance and Other Transport Services and Supplies” classification covers Medicaid-billed services as defined by the type of care delivered, with assignments based on standardized HCPCS and CPT code groupings. For this report, codes were grouped into service categories using consistent prefixes and numeric groups to analyze related services together, prevent double counting, and maintain accurate historical rankings.

Medicaid spending rose in multiple service categories, with Ambulance and Other Transport Services and Supplies ending as the third highest category in Carthage by total Medicaid payments for 2024.

Statewide in North Carolina, this category placed eighth for total Medicaid payments in 2024.

Medicaid payments for ambulance and transport services in Carthage climbed by $623,428 over the five-year span leading to 2024, a cumulative increase of 481.4%. The rate of growth picked up in certain years, particularly in 2021 and 2022 when notable annual jumps occurred.

Though spending for these transport services took place citywide, the majority of payments were focused within a small number of ZIP codes. In 2024, ZIP code 28327 posted Medicaid payments totaling $752,938 for this category, comprising all Medicaid spending on ambulance and transport services in Carthage that year.

Payments within the Ambulance and Other Transport Services and Supplies category were concentrated in a narrow set of individual billing codes.

Comparatively, ambulance and transport-related Medicaid payments in Carthage grew by 28.1% between 2023 and 2024, while all Medicaid claim categories in the city rose by 4% over the same period.

According to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, combined federal and state Medicaid spending was about $871.7 billion in fiscal year 2023, accounting for around 18% of national health expenditures, up significantly from roughly $613.5 billion in 2019 before the COVID-19 pandemic.

This roughly 40% increase over several years was driven mainly by higher enrollment and increased utilization during and following the pandemic.

Recent federal budget measures passed during the Trump administration have featured significant plans to decrease federal Medicaid contributions and revise the program structure. For instance, the “One Big Beautiful Bill Act,” enacted in 2025, is expected to reduce federal Medicaid funding by over $1 trillion in the next decade and implement policies such as work requirements and higher cost-sharing, changes that may decrease coverage and funding for some Medicaid users. The shift is anticipated to place more financial responsibility on states and slow federal support for Medicaid, though the program remains vital for tens of millions nationwide.

Note: HCPCS codes are shown for context within the category. Category totals and rankings in this article are based on standardized service groupings rather than individual billing codes.

Information in this article was obtained from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Medicaid Provider Spending database. The source data can be found here.