Carthage Medicaid COVID-19 service payments reached $4,768 in 2024

In 2024, Medicaid covered a minimum of $4,768 in Carthage for services billed using HCPCS codes specifically associated with COVID-19, according to figures from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Medicaid Provider Spending database.

Medicaid, a public health insurance program managed by the states and funded through a partnership between federal and state governments, serves low-income people and families, seniors, children and individuals with disabilities. It is among the largest components of the U.S. health care system.

Because taxpayer funding supports Medicaid, trends in local billing exhibit how public resources for health care are distributed.

For this report, COVID-19–related services were determined using HCPCS codes noted as “COVID-19” or “coronavirus”-related in either billing descriptions or supporting data. Therefore, the data includes only claims directly identified as COVID-19 services and excludes pandemic-related care billed under more general or differing code labels.

To put it in perspective, Brooklyn recorded the highest statewide Medicaid payments for COVID-19-related services in 2024, with a total of $3,718,101 in related claims.

Additionally, in Carthage, the average Medicaid payment per provider for COVID-19-related services was $2,384, below the New York state average of $29,403.

During the pandemic years, billing for COVID-19–specific services contributed to noticeable growth in Medicaid spending in Carthage.

Across all other healthcare service categories, Carthage saw a $595,435 rise in total Medicaid payments from 2020 through 2024, a 19.5% increase overall.

In the two years directly before the pandemic, Carthage’s yearly average for Medicaid payments stood at $964,119.

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

This increase marks growth of about 40% over a few years, driven by greater enrollment and higher service use occurring during and after the pandemic.

Recent federal budget policy approved during the Trump administration features major proposals to lower federal Medicaid funding and to restructure the program. The “One Big Beautiful Bill Act,” enacted in 2025, is estimated to reduce federal Medicaid support by over $1 trillion in the next decade and includes provisions such as work requirements and increasing cost-sharing, potentially leading to less coverage and funding for some recipients. Such reforms are expected to shift more responsibility and costs to states and rein in federal growth, even as Medicaid continues to serve many Americans.

Note: Figures reflect only HCPCS codes explicitly marked for COVID-19 services and do not encompass all pandemic-related health care expenditures.

This report used data from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Medicaid Provider Spending database. The detailed dataset is available here.