Belle Vernon sees $793,418 in Medicaid payments for ambulance and transport services in 2024

Belle Vernon Medicaid providers billed $793,418 for Ambulance and Other Transport Services and Supplies in 2024, as reported by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Medicaid Provider Spending database. This total represents a 70.6% jump from 2023, when $465,061 in claims were reported for the same services.

Medicaid is a joint state and federally funded public health insurance program, administered by the states, that covers low-income individuals and families, seniors, children, and people with disabilities. It is a key component of the U.S. health care system and is financed by both federal and state governments.

Since Medicaid payments are taxpayer-funded, fluctuations in local billing levels reveal how health care funds are distributed within a community.

The “Ambulance and Other Transport Services and Supplies” grouping includes various Medicaid-billed services categorized by care type, using specific HCPCS and CPT code groupings. This analysis mapped each billing code to a single service category with consistent code prefixes and ranges, ensuring related services were counted together without overlaps and rankings remained accurate over time.

Ambulance and Other Transport Services and Supplies accounted for the highest total Medicaid payments among all service categories in Belle Vernon for 2024, even as spending increased across several categories.

Statewide in Pennsylvania, Ambulance and Other Transport Services and Supplies ranked sixth in total Medicaid payments in 2024.

Between 2019 and 2024, Medicaid payments for Ambulance and Other Transport Services and Supplies in Belle Vernon rose by $771,478—or 3516.3%. Spending growth was especially pronounced during certain intervals, especially in 2021 and 2023.

Though this spending category applied across Belle Vernon, payments were focused in a small number of ZIP codes. In 2024, ZIP code 15012 alone accounted for $793,417 of Medicaid payments tied to Ambulance and Other Transport Services and Supplies, meaning the top ZIP code made up 100% of the total Medicaid spending for this category in the city that year.

Within this service category, most Medicaid payments were linked to a handful of individual billing codes.

Comparatively, Medicaid payments for Ambulance and Other Transport Services and Supplies in Belle Vernon grew by 70.6% from 2023 to 2024, while payments for all Medicaid categories in the city increased by 12% over the same period.

According to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, nationwide federal and state Medicaid spending reached about $871.7 billion in fiscal year 2023. This represented roughly 18% of total national health outlays, climbing from $613.5 billion in 2019, prior to the COVID-19 pandemic.

This rise equates to a roughly 40% increase in just a few years, fueled in large part by higher enrollment and greater service utilization during and after the pandemic.

Recent federal budget actions under the Trump administration have brought forth substantial proposals to reduce federal Medicaid spending and change how the program operates. For example, the “One Big Beautiful Bill Act,” signed in 2025, is estimated to reduce federal Medicaid spending by over $1 trillion over 10 years, introducing policies like work requirements and higher cost-sharing that may lower funding or coverage for certain beneficiaries. These measures are expected to make states responsible for more costs and may restrict the expansion of federal Medicaid support, even as 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.