Medicaid payments for medicine services in Johnson City up 0.6% in 2024

In 2024, Johnson City Medicaid providers billed $7,382,196 for Medicine Services and Procedures, according to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Medicaid Provider Spending database. This reflects a 0.6% rise from 2023, when claims under this category totaled $7,337,324.

Medicaid, a state-run and jointly state- and federally funded public health insurance program, provides coverage for low-income individuals and families, seniors, children, and people with disabilities. It represents a significant part of the U.S. health care landscape. More detail on its financing is available from the Commonwealth Fund.

Fluctuations in local Medicaid billing reveal how taxpayer health care dollars are distributed within a community.

The “Medicine Services and Procedures” classification groups Medicaid-billed care by specific service type as defined by standardized HCPCS and CPT code groupings. This analysis placed each billing code in one service category using consistent code prefixes and ranges, permitting aggregation of similar services and ensuring accurate comparisons and rankings across years.

Spending on Medicine Services and Procedures was among the top categories to see increases in Medicaid payments, ranking third by total Medicaid outlays in Johnson City in 2024.

Across Tennessee, this category stood as the fifth largest by statewide Medicaid payments in 2024.

From 2019 to 2024, Johnson City’s Medicaid payments for the Medicine Services and Procedures category rose by $2,611,671, or 54.7%. Growth in this category grew more rapidly at certain points, including marked jumps in 2023 and 2021.

Most of the Medicine Services and Procedures spending was concentrated in a few ZIP codes. In 2024, ZIP code 37601 reported $4,328,281 in payments, 37604 had $2,810,535, and 37615 received $243,378. These 3 ZIP codes comprised 100% of the city’s spending in this service category during the year.

The majority of Medicaid payments within the Medicine Services and Procedures category were tied to a select group of billing codes.

Looking at all Medicaid claims in Johnson City, payments for the Medicine Services and Procedures category rose by 0.6% between 2023 and 2024, compared to a broader 10.6% increase across all categories for the city.

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services report that combined federal and state Medicaid spending reached about $871.7 billion in fiscal 2023, equal to around 18% of total national health spending. That’s up substantially from $613.5 billion in 2019, before the COVID-19 pandemic.

The jump marks an approximately 40% increase in just a few years, largely attributed to expanded enrollment and higher utilization during and after the pandemic.

Federal budget measures enacted during the Trump administration have included substantial Medicaid funding reduction proposals and efforts to alter the program’s structure. For example, the “One Big Beautiful Bill Act,” enacted in 2025, is anticipated to trim more than $1 trillion from federal Medicaid funds over the coming decade and establishes policies such as work requirements and increased cost-sharing that could reduce both coverage and funding for some recipients. These shifts are expected to place additional financial responsibility on states and may slow federal support for Medicaid, even as the program continues to serve millions nationally.

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.