John Day providers report $7,352 in 2024 Medicaid spending for ambulance, transport services

In 2024, John Day Medicaid providers billed $7,352 for Ambulance and Other Transport Services and Supplies, data from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Medicaid Provider Spending database shows. This figure represents an 837.8% increase from 2023, when payments for the same service type totaled $784.

Medicaid is a publicly funded health insurance program administered by states and financed in partnership with federal and state governments. It serves low-income individuals and families, children, seniors and people with disabilities, making it one of the largest components of the U.S. health care system.

Since Medicaid is funded through taxpayer contributions, shifts in local billing levels reflect how community health dollars are distributed.

The “Ambulance and Other Transport Services and Supplies” category represents Medicaid-billed services grouped by type of care, using standardized HCPCS and CPT code classifications. For this reporting, each billing code was placed in a single service category using established code ranges and prefixes, enabling comparison of similar services without double counting and maintaining accurate trend rankings over time.

While Medicaid outlays rose across various service types, Ambulance and Other Transport Services and Supplies was the third-largest category by total Medicaid payments in John Day during 2024.

Statewide in Oregon, Ambulance and Other Transport Services and Supplies was the fifth-highest category by Medicaid payments in 2024.

Medicaid payments for Ambulance and Other Transport Services and Supplies in John Day climbed by $7,352 over the five years preceding 2024, reflecting a 0% change. Some periods saw more rapid increases, including notable year-over-year growth in 2023 and 2022.

Spending for Ambulance and Other Transport Services and Supplies was distributed within the city but was primarily concentrated in a few ZIP codes. In 2024, ZIP code 97845 accounted for $7,352 in Medicaid payments for this category, making up 100% of the total for John Day during the year.

Within this category, Medicaid payments were focused on a small number of specific billing codes.

Between 2024 and 2023, Medicaid payments for Ambulance and Other Transport Services and Supplies in John Day saw an increase of 837.8%, compared to a 15% shift for all Medicaid claim categories in the city over the same timeframe.

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services reports that combined federal and state Medicaid spending reached about $871.7 billion in fiscal year 2023. This figure represented around 18% of total national health expenditures, up sharply from about $613.5 billion in 2019 before the COVID-19 pandemic.

The roughly 40% increase over a few years was largely driven by higher enrollment and greater health care use during and following the pandemic.

Recent federal budget measures under the Trump administration have proposed significant reductions to federal Medicaid funding and restructuring of the program. The “One Big Beautiful Bill Act,” enacted in 2025, is projected to cut over $1 trillion from federal Medicaid spending over 10 years and introduces policies such as work requirements and more cost-sharing, which could lower coverage and funding for some recipients. These changes are expected to shift additional costs to states and curb federal Medicaid growth, even as the program continues to provide for tens of millions of Americans.

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.