In 2024, Medicaid providers in Headland submitted $57,846 in claims for the Medicine Services and Procedures category, according to data from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Medicaid Provider Spending database. This represented an increase of 218% from 2023, when claims for these services totaled $18,193.
Medicaid is a publicly funded health insurance program operated by the states and supported by both federal and state governments. It provides coverage for low-income people and families, children, seniors, and those with disabilities, making it one of the largest components of the U.S. health care system.
Since taxpayer funds provide Medicaid payments, shifts in local billing levels illustrate how community resources for health care are allocated.
The “Medicine Services and Procedures” category includes a range of Medicaid services defined by type of care, based on standard HCPCS and CPT code groupings. For this study, each billing code was linked to a single service category using standardized code prefixes and numeric intervals, supporting analysis by consolidating similar services, avoiding double counting, and providing reliable rankings over time.
While Medicaid spending increased in several service areas, Medicine Services and Procedures received the highest total Medicaid payments in Headland for 2024.
Across Alabama, Medicine Services and Procedures ranked as the fourth-largest Medicaid payment category statewide in 2024.
Over the five years leading up to 2024, payments for Medicine Services and Procedures in Headland rose by $57,666, or 32036.7%. The pace of spending growth quickened at certain times, especially with substantial annual increases noted in 2023 and 2020.
Although payments for this type of care occurred across Headland, the majority were concentrated in a small number of ZIP codes. In 2024, ZIP code 36345 accounted for $57,846 in Medicaid payments for Medicine Services and Procedures, representing 100% of all such payments in the city for the year.
Payments within the Medicine Services and Procedures group were also focused among only a few individual billing codes.
Comparatively, Medicaid payments for Medicine Services and Procedures in Headland rose 218% between 2024 and 2023, while overall Medicaid claim payments across all categories in the city moved up by 42% in the same period.
According to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, federal and state Medicaid expenditures reached approximately $871.7 billion in fiscal 2023, which made up around 18% of national health spending. That figure rose sharply from about $613.5 billion in 2019, before the COVID-19 pandemic.
The growth amounts to a roughly 40% increase over several years, largely due to growing enrollment and greater usage of services during and after the pandemic.
Recent federal budget legislation enacted during the Trump administration has featured major proposals aimed at reducing federal Medicaid financing and restructuring the program. The “One Big Beautiful Bill Act,” passed in 2025, is anticipated to decrease federal Medicaid spending by more than $1 trillion over the next 10 years and initiates policy changes like work requirements and higher cost-sharing, which could reduce both coverage and funding for certain beneficiaries. These adjustments are likely to transfer more costs to states and limit future increases in federal Medicaid support, even as the program remains a major source of health coverage for millions nationwide.
| Year | Total Medicaid Payments | % Change From Previous Year |
|---|---|---|
| 2020 | $180 | 5.9% |
| 2023 | $18,193 | 10007.2% |
| 2024 | $57,846 | 218% |
| Rank | Category | Medicaid Payments | Share of City Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Medicine Services and Procedures | $57,846 | 67.4% |
| 2 | Evaluation and Management | $24,771 | 28.9% |
| 3 | Ambulance and Other Transport Services and Supplies | $2,999 | 3.5% |
| 4 | Pathology and Laboratory Procedures | $180 | 0.2% |
| 5 | Drugs Administered Other than Oral Method | $9 | <0.1% |
| 6 | Procedures / Professional Services | $0 | <0.1% |
| HCPCS Code | Description | Medicaid Payments | Claims |
|---|---|---|---|
| 90837 | Psytx w pt 60 minutes | $57,846 | 28 |
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.
