Crescent City Medicaid claims for COVID-19 services reached $8,805 in 2024

Data from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Medicaid Provider Spending database show Medicaid payments in Crescent City reached at least $8,805 in 2024 for services billed under HCPCS codes specifically tied to COVID-19.

Medicaid, a public health insurance initiative operated by the states and funded by both federal and state governments, serves low-income people and families, seniors, children, and those with disabilities, making it central to the U.S. health care landscape.

Since Medicaid funding comes from taxpayers, trends in local billing highlight how public health resources are distributed in a locality.

COVID-19 services in this analysis are identified through HCPCS codes marked or categorized as “COVID-19” or “coronavirus” in billing labels or reference sources. This means only those services directly labeled as COVID-related in billing records are included, excluding broader pandemic-related care billed under different codes.

To compare, San Jose led the state with the highest Medicaid payments associated with COVID-19 services in 2024, at $5,601,479 for virus-related claims.

There were three providers in Crescent City who submitted Medicaid claims for services related to COVID-19 in 2024. Among these, one of the chief codes billed was COVID Specific, totaling $8,805.

As a benchmark, the average Medicaid payment per provider for COVID-19–related care in Crescent City stood at $2,935, significantly under the state average of $52,976.

During the pandemic years, services designated specifically for COVID-19 contributed to a notable uptick in Crescent City’s Medicaid spending.

Combined Medicaid claims outside of COVID categories went up by $8,438,597 from 2020 to 2024, a 73.6% increase.

According to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, federal and state outlays for Medicaid reached roughly $871.7 billion in the 2023 fiscal year, accounting for about 18% of total national health spending, a notable jump from roughly $613.5 billion in 2019, before the COVID-19 pandemic began.

This uptick reflects an overall increase of about 40% in a few years, fueled primarily by more people enrolling and higher demand during and following the pandemic.

Major federal budget policy changes during the Trump administration included substantial proposals to lower federal Medicaid spending and revise the program. The “One Big Beautiful Bill Act,” signed into law in 2025, is expected to slash federal Medicaid funding by more than $1 trillion over a decade, while introducing measures such as work requirements and higher cost-sharing that could decrease coverage for some enrollees. These provisions are projected to shift additional costs to states and moderate growth in federal Medicaid spending even as the program continues to cover tens of millions nationwide.

Note: Figures represent only those HCPCS codes explicitly labeled as COVID-19 services and do not account for all health spending related to the pandemic.

The information in this story is sourced from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Medicaid Provider Spending database, available here.