Laurel Medicaid payments for National Codes Established for State Medicaid Agencies reach $8.4 million in 2024

Laurel Medicaid providers billed $8,433,746 for services categorized under the National Codes Established for State Medicaid Agencies in 2024, data from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Medicaid Provider Spending database shows. This amount represents a 27.8% increase from 2023, when billings for this category amounted to $6,600,153.

Medicaid, operated by state governments and funded by both federal and state sources, offers health coverage to low-income individuals and families, seniors, children, and people with disabilities, making it one of the nation’s key health care programs.

Because Medicaid is taxpayer-funded, shifts in local Medicaid billing reflect how public health resources are distributed throughout a community.

The “National Codes Established for State Medicaid Agencies” category comprises a selection of Medicaid-billed services defined by care type, using standardized HCPCS and CPT code series. The analysis assigned each billing code to a single service category based on code prefixes and numeric groupings to compare related services, avoid double counting, and ensure accurate year-over-year ranking.

National Codes Established for State Medicaid Agencies was the top category for Medicaid spending in Laurel in 2024, among all service groupings.

Across Mississippi, this category also ranked first statewide in total Medicaid payments for 2024.

From 2019 to 2024, Medicaid payments connected to the National Codes Established for State Medicaid Agencies in Laurel rose by $5,986,414, or 244.6%. The pace of spending gains accelerated at certain times, including significant jumps in both 2022 and 2021.

Although these Medicaid payments were distributed throughout the city, the funds were concentrated in a few ZIP codes. In 2024, the ZIP code 39440 saw $7,338,654 in Medicaid payments, 39443 received $1,095,091, and 39441 had $0. These 3 ZIP codes represented 100% of Medicaid payments for this category in Laurel during the year.

Within the category, Medicaid spending was focused among a select number of billing codes.

Year-on-year, Medicaid payments for the National Codes Established for State Medicaid Agencies category in Laurel increased by 27.8% from 2023 to 2024, while overall Medicaid claims citywide rose by 12.7% during that period.

According to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, combined federal and state Medicaid spending reached about $871.7 billion in fiscal year 2023, making up nearly 18% of total national health care expenditures, a sharp rise from around $613.5 billion in 2019, prior to the COVID-19 pandemic.

This surge marks a roughly 40% increase in just a few years, with growth mainly attributed to higher enrollment and utilization during and after the pandemic.

Recent federal budget measures under the Trump administration included major proposals to decrease federal Medicaid funding and alter the program’s structure. For example, the “One Big Beautiful Bill Act,” enacted in 2025, is expected to reduce federal Medicaid spending by over $1 trillion in the next decade and introduces changes such as work requirements and increased cost-sharing, which could decrease funding and coverage for some beneficiaries. These changes may require states to cover more costs and slow growth in federal Medicaid spending as the program continues to insure tens of millions of Americans.

Note: HCPCS codes are provided to illustrate the category’s scope. Totals and rankings are based on standardized groupings, not individual billing codes.

Data for this report was sourced from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Medicaid Provider Spending database. The full dataset is available here.