Medicaid spending for Ambulance and Other Transport Services and Supplies surges 279% in West Sand Lake in 2024

In 2024, Medicaid providers in West Sand Lake billed $3,051 for services under the Ambulance and Other Transport Services and Supplies category, according to U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Medicaid Provider Spending data. This represents a 279% rise compared with 2023, when $805 in claims were submitted for the same category.

Medicaid, a public health insurance initiative managed by the states and financed through federal and state collaboration, serves low-income people and families, seniors, children, and individuals with disabilities, making it a central component of the U.S. health care system.

Because taxpayer dollars fund Medicaid payments, shifts in local billing offer insight into how public health care resources are distributed in a community.

The “Ambulance and Other Transport Services and Supplies” category includes a range of Medicaid services categorized by the type of care delivered, based on standardized HCPCS and CPT code groupings. This analysis assigned each billing code to a unique service group using consistent code prefixes and numerical ranges, grouping related services for analysis and avoiding double counting to maintain accuracy over time.

Ambulance and Other Transport Services and Supplies ranked as the leading Medicaid payment category in West Sand Lake in 2024, though Medicaid spending grew in several other categories as well.

Statewide in New York, the Ambulance and Other Transport Services and Supplies category ranked eighth by Medicaid payment total in 2024.

During the five years before 2024, West Sand Lake Medicaid payments for the Ambulance and Other Transport Services and Supplies category increased by $3,051, or 0%. The pace of spending growth picked up in selected periods, with significant year-over-year jumps reported in 2023 and 2022.

Spending on Ambulance and Other Transport Services and Supplies was distributed throughout the city, but payments were concentrated in a few ZIP codes. In 2024, the highest Medicaid payment for the category came from ZIP code 12196, totaling $3,051. This single ZIP code accounted for 100% of all West Sand Lake Medicaid payments for the category that year.

A limited number of billing codes accounted for the majority of Medicaid spending in the Ambulance and Other Transport Services and Supplies category.

To compare, Medicaid payments for Ambulance and Other Transport Services and Supplies in West Sand Lake increased 279% from 2023 to 2024. That matched a 279.2% increase across all Medicaid claim categories in the city during the same span.

According to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, combined state and federal Medicaid expenditures were about $871.7 billion in fiscal 2023, making up approximately 18% of total U.S. health spending, a sharp increase from nearly $613.5 billion in 2019, prior to the COVID-19 pandemic.

This change marks an estimated 40% rise in only a few years, primarily driven by increased enrollment and higher usage during and after the pandemic.

Recent federal budget actions during the Trump administration have included major proposals to decrease federal Medicaid funding and overhaul the program. The “One Big Beautiful Bill Act,” enacted in 2025, is forecast to trim over $1 trillion from federal Medicaid support across the next decade, introducing policies like work requirements and expanded cost-sharing that could reduce access and funding for some recipients. These measures are likely to place more responsibility on state budgets and slow the rise of federal support, even as Medicaid continues to serve tens of millions across the country.

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.