Morenci Medicaid payments for evaluation and management services up 5.2% in 2024

In 2024, Medicaid providers in Morenci billed $45,546 for services in the Evaluation and Management category, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Medicaid Provider Spending database records show. This represents a 5.2% increase from 2023, when claims for this service category totaled $43,307.

Medicaid, a public health insurance initiative operated by the states and funded with federal and state resources, serves low-income individuals and families, seniors, children, and people with disabilities, making it a significant component of the U.S. health care system.

Since Medicaid payments are taxpayer-funded, shifts in local billing amounts illustrate how a community’s public health care funding is distributed.

The “Evaluation and Management” designation covers a collection of Medicaid-billed services, categorized by the specific care provided, using standard HCPCS and CPT coding structures. For this analysis, each billing code was mapped to a single service category by established code prefixes and number ranges to examine similar services together, avoid double counting, and maintain accurate historical rankings.

Spending on Medicaid rose across various service areas, but Evaluation and Management was the leading category in Morenci for total Medicaid payments in 2024.

Statewide in Arizona, the Evaluation and Management category placed third for overall Medicaid payments that year.

During the five-year period ending in 2024, Medicaid payments in Morenci related to the Evaluation and Management category grew by $27,351—a 150.3% rise. The growth rate sped up during certain years, with significant annual increases in both 2021 and 2022.

While Evaluation and Management care spending was distributed citywide, the payments primarily occurred in a small group of ZIP codes. ZIP code 85540 accounted for $45,546 in 2024, representing 100% of the city’s Medicaid payments for Evaluation and Management that year.

By individual billing codes, Medicaid payments in this group were focused within a select few.

Comparatively, Morenci’s 5.2% rise in Evaluation and Management Medicaid payments between 2024 and 2023 contrasts with an 11.2% increase across all Medicaid claim categories in the city for that period.

Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services data show that combined federal and state Medicaid spending reached about $871.7 billion in fiscal year 2023, comprising 18% of overall U.S. health expenditures, up from $613.5 billion in 2019 ahead of the COVID-19 pandemic.

This marks approximately 40% growth in just a few years, primarily attributed to expanded coverage and increased use during and after the pandemic.

Recent federal budgets during the Trump administration contained substantial proposals to decrease federal Medicaid support and modify the program’s structure. The “One Big Beautiful Bill Act,” enacted in 2025, is estimated to reduce federal Medicaid outlays by over $1 trillion over 10 years and brings policies like work requirements and higher cost-sharing that could lower both funding and coverage for some enrollees. This shift is projected to transfer additional costs to state governments and restrict increases in federal Medicaid contributions even as the program covers 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.