Prentiss records $22,351 in Medicaid payments for COVID-19 services in 2024

At least $22,351 in Medicaid payments were made in Prentiss in 2024 for services with HCPCS codes directly identified as related to COVID-19, based on figures from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Medicaid Provider Spending database.

Medicaid, managed by individual states with funding support from both federal and state sources, helps cover medical costs for low-income families, seniors, children, and people with disabilities, and ranks among the country’s largest health care programs. For more detail on program funding, see resources from the Commonwealth Fund.

Because taxpayer dollars finance Medicaid, shifts in billing at the community level reflect local patterns in how public health resources are used.

This review classified services as COVID-19-related by utilizing HCPCS codes marked as “COVID-19” or “coronavirus” in billing records or official references. Thus, the reported totals include only those services coded specifically as COVID-19 and omit pandemic-related care billed with broader or different categories.

By contrast, Ripley saw the highest Medicaid spending for COVID-19 services in Mississippi in 2024, submitting $437,540 in COVID-related claims.

Two providers in Prentiss billed Medicaid for COVID-19–specific services during 2024, with the largest individual code, COVID Specific, posting claims of $16,828.

On average, Medicaid paid $11,175 per provider for COVID-19–linked care in Prentiss, which is lower than the statewide provider average of $22,101 for similar services.

As reported by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, federal and state Medicaid funding combined reached approximately $871.7 billion in fiscal year 2023. This amounted to about 18% of overall U.S. health expenditures and rose from $613.5 billion in 2019 prior to the COVID-19 pandemic.

This change means spending jumped nearly 40% over just a few years, largely due to fast-growing enrollment and increased service use during and following pandemic disruptions.

Recent federal budgets approved under the Trump administration contained significant Medicaid reform proposals. The “One Big Beautiful Bill Act,” enacted in 2025, is expected to reduce federal Medicaid spending by over $1 trillion over 10 years and implements changes such as new work requirements and more cost-sharing. These measures could result in less coverage and revenue for certain recipients and would shift more funding responsibility to states, limiting future federal Medicaid growth while the program remains vital to tens of millions across the country.

Note: Only HCPCS codes clearly designated for COVID-19 services are included; totals exclude all other pandemic-related health expenditures.

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Medicaid Provider Spending database served as the source for this article’s data. The raw dataset can be accessed here.