Wachapreague Medicaid spending on ambulance and transport services reaches $8,530 in 2024

Wachapreague health care providers received $8,530 in Medicaid payments for services within the Ambulance and Other Transport Services and Supplies category in 2024, according to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Medicaid Provider Spending database. This reflects an increase of 46.6% compared to 2023, when claims in the same category totaled $5,817.

Medicaid is a government health insurance initiative operated by the states and funded with state and federal support. It provides coverage to low-income groups such as families, children, seniors, and people with disabilities, making it one of the mainstays of the nation’s health care system.

With Medicaid dollars funded through taxes, shifts in local billing reveal how community health care resources are used.

The “Ambulance and Other Transport Services and Supplies” designation encompasses a set of Medicaid-billed services defined by care type and selected via consistent HCPCS and CPT code methods. For this analysis, each billing code was grouped into one service area using uniform code prefixes and number ranges, which makes it possible to examine related services together, minimize double counting and retain accurate year-to-year comparisons.

While Medicaid disbursements went up in several areas, Ambulance and Other Transport Services and Supplies had the highest total Medicaid reimbursement in Wachapreague for 2024.

Statewide, Ambulance and Other Transport Services and Supplies ranked 10th in Virginia by Medicaid disbursements in 2024.

From 2019 through 2024, Medicaid support for Ambulance and Other Transport Services and Supplies in Wachapreague rose by $6,653 or 354.4%. There were especially sharp annual upticks during parts of this time, most significantly in 2022 and 2021.

Payments for services in the Ambulance and Other Transport Services and Supplies category were made throughout Wachapreague, but the amounts were concentrated in a small number of ZIP codes. In 2024, ZIP code 23480 received $8,530 in payments under this category, making up 100% of related Medicaid claims in the city for the year.

Within this category, only a few specific billing codes accounted for most Medicaid reimbursements.

Looking at year-to-year comparisons, Medicaid payments to Wachapreague providers for Ambulance and Other Transport Services and Supplies increased by 46.6% from 2023 to 2024, closely tracking the 46.7% rise across all Medicaid categories in the area during that interval.

Per the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, combined federal-state Medicaid outlays reached approximately $871.7 billion in fiscal 2023, representing around 18% of the nation’s health spending—up from $613.5 billion in 2019, prior to the COVID-19 public health emergency.

This rise amounts to roughly a 40% increase in just a few years, driven in large part by expansion in enrollment and heightened use during and after the pandemic.

Under recent federal budget policy enacted during the Trump administration, notable proposals have been included to curb federal Medicaid outlays and alter program structure. The “One Big Beautiful Bill Act,” signed into law in 2025, sets forth more than $1 trillion in cuts over a decade and introduces additional requirements such as mandatory work participation and greater cost-sharing, possibly reducing coverage for some enrollees. As a result, states are likely to bear more fiscal responsibility while funding growth may slow—even as Medicaid remains a crucial resource serving millions across the country.

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.