Cabot logs $170,529 in Medicaid spending for ambulance and transport services in 2024

In Cabot, Medicaid providers billed $170,529 for services classified under the Ambulance and Other Transport Services and Supplies category in 2024, according to data from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Medicaid Provider Spending database. That figure represents a 58% increase over the $107,931 providers billed in this service category during 2023.

Medicaid functions as a public health insurance program managed by states and funded through combined federal and state resources. It serves low-income people and families, children, older adults, and individuals with disabilities, making it a major contributor to the larger U.S. health care system.

Variation in Medicaid payment and billing levels reveals how taxpayer dollars for public health care are distributed within communities.

The “Ambulance and Other Transport Services and Supplies” category represents groups of Medicaid-billed services categorized by care type and classified under standardized HCPCS and CPT codes. Analysts in this report assigned each billing code to one service area by consistent prefix and numeric code ranges. This approach let them group related care types, prevent double counting, and maintain accurate rankings over time.

Ambulance and Other Transport Services and Supplies had the sixth-highest total Medicaid payments among all service categories in Cabot in 2024, despite overall growth across several categories.

Statewide in Arkansas, this category finished seventh for total Medicaid payments during 2024.

Reviewing the five-year span ending in 2024, Medicaid payments for the Ambulance and Other Transport Services and Supplies category in Cabot grew by $167,396, or 5,343.2%. Some years, including 2021 and 2023, showed especially pronounced year-over-year growth.

While ambulance and transport payments were made citywide, most went to a small number of ZIP codes. In 2024, the 72023 ZIP code alone recorded Medicaid payments totaling $170,529 for this category. The top ZIP code accounted for all local Medicaid spending on Ambulance and Other Transport Services and Supplies that year.

This concentration extended to individual billing codes used within the Ambulance and Other Transport Services and Supplies category, with payment volumes distributed among just a few codes.

Across all Medicaid claim categories in Cabot between 2023 and 2024, payment totals rose 13.5%, while Ambulance and Other Transport Services and Supplies moved up by 58% year over year.

According to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, federal and state Medicaid expenditures reached approximately $871.7 billion in fiscal year 2023, making up roughly 18% of national health expenditures. That’s up significantly from $613.5 billion in 2019, prior to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The increase equals about a 40% gain over just a few years, with much of the growth spurred by rising enrollment and greater utilization following the pandemic.

Major federal budget legislation enacted during the Trump administration proposed deep cuts and changes to the Medicaid program. The “One Big Beautiful Bill Act,” passed in 2025, is expected to reduce federal Medicaid funding by over $1 trillion in the next 10 years and implements changes like work requirements and increased cost-sharing for some recipients. The policy shift is projected to move more Medicaid funding responsibility onto states and restrict growth of federal support, even as the program continues to reach extensive portions of the U.S. population.

Note: HCPCS codes are included for reference within the category. The article’s totals and rankings reflect grouped service codes instead of individual billings.

This piece uses information from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Medicaid Provider Spending database. Source data is available here.