Elwood Medicaid payments for National Codes Established for State agencies rise to $17,385 in 2024

Data from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Medicaid Provider Spending database shows that Medicaid providers in Elwood billed $17,385 for services within the National Codes Established for State Medicaid Agencies category in 2024. This marks a 6% increase over 2023, when providers claimed $16,394 for the same service category.

Medicaid, a state-administered health insurance program funded jointly by the federal and state governments, serves low-income adults, families and children, seniors, and individuals with disabilities. It is one of the nation’s largest health care programs.

Because Medicaid uses taxpayer funding, shifts in how local providers bill the program illustrate how health care funds are distributed throughout a community.

The “National Codes Established for State Medicaid Agencies” category includes a set of Medicaid-billed services grouped by care type, using standardized HCPCS and CPT code prefixes and numeric groupings. In this analysis, each service billing code is placed into a single service category based on code parameters, ensuring related services are grouped together, double counting is avoided, and payment rankings remain accurate each year.

While overall Medicaid spending increased across various service categories, National Codes Established for State Medicaid Agencies ranked as the highest by total Medicaid payments in Elwood for 2024.

Statewide, the National Codes Established for State Medicaid Agencies was ranked second by total Medicaid payments in New Jersey for 2024.

Between 2019 and 2024, Elwood saw Medicaid payments for this category rise by $18,687, translating to a 51.8% gain. Periods of faster growth occurred during certain years, with significant annual increases in 2021 and 2022.

Spending on care mapped to the National Codes Established for State Medicaid Agencies primarily occurred within just a few ZIP codes in Elwood. In 2024, the 08217 ZIP code alone comprised $17,385 in Medicaid payments for this category, representing 100% of such payments in the city that year.

Payments were also concentrated among a select number of individual billing codes within the National Codes Established for State Medicaid Agencies category.

For context, Medicaid payments for this category in Elwood increased by 6% between 2024 and 2023, matching the overall percentage increase among all Medicaid claim types in the city over that period.

According to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, combined federal and state Medicaid expenditures totaled approximately $871.7 billion in fiscal year 2023. This figure made up around 18% of overall U.S. health care expenses—up from nearly $613.5 billion in 2019, prior to the COVID-19 pandemic.

This surge represents roughly 40% growth in just a few years, largely attributed to broader program enrollment and heightened utilization during and after the public health emergency.

Major federal budget measures adopted during the Trump administration proposed major reductions to federal Medicaid spending and key program changes. The “One Big Beautiful Bill Act,” enacted in 2025, is expected to cut more than $1 trillion from federal Medicaid support over the coming decade. It also sets forth new requirements, like work demonstrations and higher beneficiary cost-sharing that could reduce access and funding for populations served. These changes are forecasted to shift more costs to states and restrain federal Medicaid funding growth—even as Medicaid continues to provide for tens of 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.