Gretna Medicaid spending for ambulance, transport services rises to $70,909 in 2024

In 2024, Medicaid providers in Gretna invoiced $70,909 for services grouped under the Ambulance and Other Transport Services and Supplies category, according to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Medicaid Provider Spending database. This represented an increase of 140.7% from 2023, when providers submitted $29,456 for the same service category.

Medicaid is a public health insurance program administered by the states and funded by both federal and state governments. It insures low-income people, families, children, seniors, and those with disabilities, making it a major component of the United States health care system.

Because Medicaid is taxpayer-funded, fluctuations in local billing reflect how public health care dollars are used in the community.

The “Ambulance and Other Transport Services and Supplies” classification represents a set of Medicaid-billed services identified by type of care, using standard HCPCS and CPT code groups. To conduct this analysis, each billing code was placed into only one service category through consistent code prefixes and numbering, ensuring similar services are grouped for comparison and avoiding double counting while maintaining proper rankings over time.

Despite broader increases in Medicaid spending across various service areas, Ambulance and Other Transport Services and Supplies constituted the third-largest Medicaid payment category in Gretna for 2024.

Statewide in Virginia, Ambulance and Other Transport Services and Supplies ranked 10th for total Medicaid payments in 2024.

Between 2019 and 2024, Medicaid expenditures in Gretna for the Ambulance and Other Transport Services and Supplies grouping grew by $42,547, marking a gain of 150%. Growth in spending accelerated at intervals, including significant year-over-year jumps in 2020 and 2021.

Spending within the Ambulance and Other Transport Services and Supplies category was recorded citywide, but was particularly concentrated in certain ZIP codes. In 2024, ZIP code 24557 accounted for $70,909 in Medicaid payments tied to this category, representing 100% of Medicaid funds for the grouping in Gretna that year.

Within this service category, the concentration of Medicaid funds was further narrowed to just a handful of individual billing codes.

Looking at overall trends, Medicaid payments for Ambulance and Other Transport Services and Supplies in Gretna rose 140.7% from 2023 to 2024, whereas the city’s claims across all Medicaid categories increased by 24.1% within the same period.

According to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, combined federal and state Medicaid outlays reached approximately $871.7 billion during fiscal 2023, which made up about 18% of total U.S. health spending, sharply up from around $613.5 billion in 2019, prior to the COVID-19 pandemic.

This escalation represents approximately 40% growth in a few years, propelled by expanded enrollment and increased service use during and after the pandemic.

Recent federal budget acts under the Trump administration have proposed substantial reductions in federal Medicaid financing and restructuring of the program. For instance, the “One Big Beautiful Bill Act,” enacted in 2025, is projected to lower federal Medicaid expenditures by more than $1 trillion over the next decade. It adds policies such as work requirements and greater cost-sharing, which could decrease both coverage and funding for certain recipients. These policy shifts are expected to move more responsibility to states and limit future federal Medicaid growth even as the program continues to serve millions nationwide.

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.