In 2024, Medicaid providers in Schenectady submitted $6,479,286 in claims categorized under Ambulance and Other Transport Services and Supplies, based on data reported by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Medicaid Provider Spending database. The figure marks a 2.2% increase over the previous year, when providers recorded $6,340,915 in claims for this group of services.
Medicaid, a public health insurance program operated by states and funded with both federal and state dollars, supports seniors, children, people with disabilities, and low-income individuals and families—making it one of the primary programs in the U.S. health care system.
Fluctuations in local Medicaid billing highlight how taxpayer-funded health care resources are distributed in a community.
The “Ambulance and Other Transport Services and Supplies” classification covers a set of Medicaid-billed services, as determined by specialized HCPCS and CPT grouping of codes. In conducting this analysis, individual billing codes were assigned to a specific service category using systematic code prefixes and numerical ranges. This approach brings related services together for review while avoiding any double counting and ensures the accuracy of rank ordering over time.
Ambulance and Other Transport Services and Supplies was responsible for the third-largest share of Medicaid payments by category in 2024 in Schenectady, amid overall category-wide increases.
Statewide in New York, this category ranked eighth by total Medicaid payments for 2024.
Between 2020 and 2024, Medicaid payments related to the Ambulance and Other Transport Services and Supplies category in Schenectady expanded by $2,074,846, or 47.1%. The rate of growth accelerated in certain years, with significant annual increases noted during 2020 and 2023.
Examination of spending patterns shows payments for this category were mainly concentrated in a select few ZIP codes across Schenectady. For 2024, the ZIP code 12304 saw $6,128,830 in Medicaid payments, 12303 accounted for $196,689 and 12307 reported $153,765. Collectively, these 3 ZIP codes made up 100% of all Medicaid spending for Ambulance and Other Transport Services and Supplies in Schenectady for the year.
Within this service group, the bulk of Medicaid allocations went to only a limited set of billing codes.
In Schenectady, Medicaid spending for Ambulance and Other Transport Services and Supplies rose 2.2% from 2023 to 2024, while total Medicaid-enabled claims across all categories in the city shifted 19.1% in the same span.
According to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, combined federal and state Medicaid spending reached about $871.7 billion in fiscal 2023—making up around 18% of all national health spending, and rising sharply from approximately $613.5 billion in 2019, prior to the COVID-19 pandemic.
This growth reflects an estimated 40% increase over a short period, spurred mostly by expanded eligibility and higher usage triggered by the pandemic and its aftermath.
Recently, federal budget legislation during the Trump administration introduced major proposals designed to reduce federal Medicaid spending and modify the program’s structure. For instance, the “One Big Beautiful Bill Act,” signed in 2025, is forecast to cut federal Medicaid funds by more than $1 trillion in the next decade, while also instituting measures like work requirements and higher cost-sharing, which could potentially affect access and funding for some participants. These adjustments are projected to shift a greater funding burden onto states and constrain future federal support, even as Medicaid continues to cover millions across the country.
| Year | Total Medicaid Payments | % Change From Previous Year |
|---|---|---|
| 2020 | $4,404,440 | 14.9% |
| 2021 | $4,810,879 | 9.2% |
| 2022 | $5,481,505 | 13.9% |
| 2023 | $6,340,915 | 15.7% |
| 2024 | $6,479,285 | 2.2% |
| Rank | Category | Medicaid Payments | Share of City Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Evaluation and Management | $9,026,280 | 25.2% |
| 2 | Alcohol and Drug Abuse Treatment | $7,175,414 | 2<0.1% |
| 3 | Ambulance and Other Transport Services and Supplies | $6,479,285 | 18.1% |
| 4 | Medicine Services and Procedures | $5,089,846 | 14.2% |
| 5 | Temporary National Codes (Non-Medicare) | $2,801,014 | 7.8% |
| 6 | Procedures / Professional Services | $2,029,142 | 5.7% |
| 7 | Radiology Procedures | $1,326,965 | 3.7% |
| 8 | Pathology and Laboratory Procedures | $907,467 | 2.5% |
| 9 | Dental Services | $388,573 | 1.1% |
| 10 | Vision Services | $325,691 | 0.9% |
| 11 | Surgery | $171,298 | 0.5% |
| 12 | National Codes Established for State Medicaid Agencies | $55,720 | 0.2% |
| 13 | Medical And Surgical Supplies | $27,272 | 0.1% |
| 14 | Temporary Codes | $4,917 | <0.1% |
| 15 | Drugs Administered Other than Oral Method | $3,385 | <0.1% |
| 16 | Anesthesia | $1,746 | <0.1% |
| 17 | Pathology and Laboratory Services | $286 | <0.1% |
| 18 | Administrative, Miscellaneous and Investigational | $0 | <0.1% |
| 18 | Outpatient PPS | $0 | <0.1% |
| HCPCS Code | Description | Medicaid Payments | Claims |
|---|---|---|---|
| A0429 | Bls-emergency | $4,105,871 | 35 |
| A0427 | Als1-emergency | $1,331,322 | 28 |
| A0425 | Ground mileage | $463,214 | 35 |
| A0428 | Bls | $396,277 | 12 |
| A0434 | Specialty care transport | $115,118 | 11 |
| A0130 | Noner transport wheelch van | $37,348 | 11 |
| A0999 | Unlisted ambulance service | $12,376 | 1 |
| A0100 | Nonemergency transport taxi | $7,338 | 4 |
| A0426 | Als 1 | $6,722 | 4 |
| A0433 | Als 2 | $3,696 | 1 |
| A0380 | Basic life support mileage | $0 | 1 |
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.
