Payson Medicaid payments for ambulance services total $1,249,685 in 2024

Payson Medicaid providers charged $1,249,685 for Ambulance and Other Transport Services and Supplies in 2024, based on figures from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Medicaid Provider Spending database. This amount reflects a 6.2% increase from 2023, when claims for this service type reached $1,177,035.

Medicaid, a public insurance initiative jointly funded by state and federal governments, covers populations including low-income individuals, families, seniors, children, and people with disabilities. It stands as a substantial segment of the U.S. health care system. For more on how Medicaid is financed, see here.

Since taxpayers fund Medicaid payments, shifts in local billing patterns reveal how health care funds are distributed in each community.

The “Ambulance and Other Transport Services and Supplies” group encompasses Medicaid services categorized by care provided, according to standardized HCPCS and CPT code sets. In this analysis, every billing code was placed into one service group by prefix and number range, grouping similar services for comparison while ensuring codes are not double counted and rankings remain accurate.

While Medicaid spending rose in several categories, Ambulance and Other Transport Services and Supplies held the third-highest payment total in Payson during 2024.

Throughout Arizona, Ambulance and Other Transport Services and Supplies ranked sixth by Medicaid payment total for 2024.

Across the five years prior to 2024, Medicaid payments for this category increased by $169,401, or 15.7%, in Payson. Growth accelerated in some years, with significant annual gains logged in 2022 and 2020.

Spending for this category was observed citywide, but payments were heavily concentrated in a few ZIP codes. In 2024, ZIP code 85541 represented $1,249,685 in Medicaid payments. This single ZIP code comprised 100% of Payson’s Medicaid expenditures in the category for the year.

Medicaid reimbursement within Ambulance and Other Transport Services and Supplies focused on a small selection of billing codes.

For further comparison, Payson’s Medicaid expenditures for this category climbed 6.2% from 2023 to 2024—surpassing the 1.8% change observed across all Medicaid categories in the city during that time.

Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services data shows combined federal and state Medicaid spending reached about $871.7 billion for fiscal 2023. This equaled about 18% of total national health expenditures and was a sharp jump from approximately $613.5 billion in 2019, before the COVID-19 pandemic.

This change marks roughly 40% growth in just a few years, primarily fueled by increased enrollment and service use during and after the pandemic period.

Recent federal budget laws under the Trump administration have included proposals to reduce Medicaid funding and alter the program structure. The “One Big Beautiful Bill Act,” enacted in 2025, is expected to reduce federal Medicaid spending by over $1 trillion in the next 10 years and introduces requirements like work mandates and greater cost-sharing, potentially limiting some beneficiaries’ coverage. These adjustments are projected to shift costs toward states and constrain federal Medicaid funding growth, though the program still covers tens of millions.

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.