Dothan Medicaid providers billed $9.2 million for medicine services, rising 1.9% in 2024

Dothan health care providers submitted Medicaid claims totaling $9,183,672 for services grouped under Medicine Services and Procedures in 2024, as stated by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Medicaid Provider Spending database. This figure reflects a 1.9% rise compared with 2023, which saw $9,011,976 billed for the same services.

Medicaid is a state-operated insurance program with joint federal and state funding as explained by the Commonwealth Fund. It offers health coverage to individuals and families with low income, seniors, children, and those with disabilities, ranking among the largest segments of the U.S. health care system.

Because these payments are funded by taxpayers, shifts in local Medicaid billing trends illustrate changing allocations of public health care resources within communities.

The “Medicine Services and Procedures” group represents a set of Medicaid-billed care types, classified using standard HCPCS and CPT code groupings. For this report, each code is attributed to the main service group based on prefix and numerical sequence, ensuring related services are matched but not double-counted for a clear assessment over time.

Multiple Medicaid service groups saw increased billings, but Medicine Services and Procedures was the second-highest in Dothan in total 2024 payments.

Across Alabama, Medicine Services and Procedures ranked fourth among service categories statewide by Medicaid payments in 2024.

Over the five years preceding 2024, Dothan’s Medicaid payments for Medicine Services and Procedures grew by $4,613,222, representing 100.9% growth. Some periods, especially 2021 and 2022, saw particularly strong year-over-year increases.

While Medicine Services and Procedures claims spanned Dothan, payments were mainly focused in a few ZIP codes. In 2024, ZIP code 36303 reached $7,292,742 in billings, 36301 totaled $1,013,862, and 36305 accounted for $877,067. These three ZIP codes combined made up the entirety of Medicaid outlay for this category in Dothan that year.

Payments within this category were primarily distributed among a handful of Medicaid billing code types.

Comparing 2024 with 2023, Dothan saw a 1.9% increase in Medicaid payments for Medicine Services and Procedures, while Medicaid claims overall in the city grew by 11.1% in the same timeframe.

Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services data indicates that fiscal year 2023 federal and state Medicaid spending reached about $871.7 billion, or close to 18% of U.S. health expenditures. This marks a rise from $613.5 billion in 2019, prior to the COVID-19 emergency.

This approximately 40% increase over several years was driven mainly by greater Medicaid enrollment and increased service use during and following the pandemic.

Federal budget legislation passed in the Trump era brought major changes, including provisions expected to reduce federal Medicaid funding and realign the structure of the program. The “One Big Beautiful Bill Act,”, enacted in 2025, aims to cut over $1 trillion from Medicaid over the next 10 years, with measures such as employment mandates and higher cost-sharing. These adjustments could decrease some beneficiaries’ coverage, shift more Medicaid expenses to the states, and slow federal support growth, while the program continues to cover 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.