Colbert Surgery services see Medicaid payments rise to $3,824 in 2024

In 2024, Medicaid providers in Colbert reported $3,824 in billing for services within the Surgery category, according to data from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Medicaid Provider Spending database. That amount reflects a 19.1% uptick from 2023, when providers filed $3,210 in claims for these services.

Medicaid is a public insurance program administered by states and funded with contributions from both federal and state governments. It provides coverage for low-income people and families, seniors, children, and individuals with disabilities, making it a major element of health care in the United States.

Since taxpayer funds support Medicaid payments, shifts in billing patterns locally illustrate the allocation of community health care resources.

The Surgery category encompasses services billed to Medicaid based on the nature of care, grouped by standard HCPCS and CPT codes. For this report, each code was assigned to one service category using consistent prefixes and numbers to enable tracking of related services without duplication and to maintain accurate rankings over time.

While Medicaid expenditures rose in several service categories, Surgery was the fifth-highest Medicaid payment category in Colbert in 2024.

Statewide in Georgia, Surgery ranked eighth among Medicaid categories by total payments for 2024.

Between 2019 and 2024, Colbert saw Medicaid payments tied to Surgery rise by $3,635, or 1920.6%. Spending accelerated at several points, with year-over-year surges recorded in both 2022 and 2023.

Though Surgery-related Medicaid payments were distributed throughout Colbert, the majority were concentrated within select ZIP codes. In 2024, the 30628 ZIP code accounted for $3,823. Altogether, the top ZIP code represented 100% of the city’s Medicaid payments for Surgery that year.

Medicaid payments within the Surgery category focused mostly on a small set of billing codes.

Comparatively, while Medicaid payments for Surgery services in Colbert jumped 19.1% from 2023 to 2024, all claim categories together rose by 34.6% in the city in that time frame.

According to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, overall Medicaid spending by federal and state governments totaled approximately $871.7 billion during fiscal year 2023, comprising about 18% of all U.S. health expenditures, up sharply from $613.5 billion in 2019, prior to the COVID-19 pandemic.

This uptick amounts to an increase of close to 40% over several years, mainly because of higher enrollment and greater health service use during and after the pandemic.

Recent federal budgets passed in the Trump administration have featured proposals for major reductions in federal Medicaid funding and made changes to the program’s structure. The “One Big Beautiful Bill Act,” enacted in 2025, is projected to lower federal Medicaid spending by more than $1 trillion over 10 years. New provisions, such as work requirements and higher cost-sharing, could curtail coverage and funding for some beneficiaries. As a result, states are expected to shoulder more financial responsibility, further limiting the growth of federal Medicaid support even as the program serves tens of millions nationwide.

Note: HCPCS codes are provided for reference within the category. Totals and rankings are determined by service groupings, not single billing codes.

Information featured in this article was sourced from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Medicaid Provider Spending database. The source data is available here.