Bradford Medicaid spending on pathology, lab services surges 59.3% in 2024

Data from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Medicaid Provider Spending database shows that Medicaid providers in Bradford billed $4,371 for Pathology and Laboratory Procedures in 2024. This amount represents a 59.3% jump over the $2,744 billed for these services in 2023.

Medicaid, a public health insurance program for low-income Americans, is overseen by the states with funding shared between federal and state governments. The program supports seniors, children, people with disabilities, and families, making it a key part of the nation’s health care landscape.

Shifts in Medicaid billing—funded by taxpayers—indicate how public resources are used for local health care.

The “Pathology and Laboratory Procedures” grouping includes a defined set of Medicaid services based on standardized HCPCS and CPT coding structures. This analysis exclusively groups related billing codes using consistent prefixes and ranges to avoid double-counting and ensure reliable rankings across years.

While Medicaid outlays rose in multiple service areas, Pathology and Laboratory Procedures was the second-largest by payments in Bradford for 2024.

Statewide in Arkansas, Pathology and Laboratory Procedures ranked sixth for total Medicaid payments that same year.

Looking at the five-year period to 2024, Medicaid payments in Bradford for Pathology and Laboratory Procedures increased by $2,672, up 157.3%. The category had especially strong year-over-year jumps in 2021 and 2022.

Spending for these services occurred across the city, but 2024 payments were mostly clustered in certain ZIP codes. ZIP code 72020 registered $4,370 in Medicaid payments for the category, making up all of Bradford’s spending here for the year.

Payments were heavily concentrated among only a few specific billing codes within the Pathology and Laboratory Procedures area.

Growth in Medicaid payments for Pathology and Laboratory Procedures in Bradford (59.3% between 2023 and 2024) outpaced the overall 29.1% change seen across all claim categories during the same comparison period.

According to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, fiscal year 2023 federal and state Medicaid outlays reached about $871.7 billion, accounting for roughly 18% of all U.S. health care expenditures. This figure rose sharply from $613.5 billion in 2019, just before the COVID-19 crisis.

The approximate 40% increase in spending is attributed to growing enrollment and increased service use through and after the pandemic.

Federal legislation adopted under the Trump administration featured major proposals to reduce federal Medicaid support and change the program’s structure. The “One Big Beautiful Bill Act,” signed in 2025, is estimated to reduce federal Medicaid funding by over $1 trillion over 10 years. It enacts policies like work requirements and higher cost-sharing that could trim coverage for select groups, shifting financial responsibility to states and constraining federal growth, even while Medicaid remains essential to millions of Americans.

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.