Grand Bay Medicaid spending on Pathology and Laboratory Procedures rises to $264,729 in 2024

In 2024, Medicaid providers in Grand Bay submitted $264,729 in claims for services categorized as Pathology and Laboratory Procedures, based on data from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Medicaid Provider Spending database. This figure represents an 89.2% increase from 2023, when providers billed $139,938 for similar services.

Medicaid, a health insurance program for residents with low incomes as well as for seniors, children, and individuals with disabilities, is managed by states and receives joint funding from federal and state governments. The program remains a core element in the U.S. health care landscape.

Since taxpayer dollars support Medicaid payments, local fluctuations in billing trend data reflect shifts in how public health care resources are distributed in the area.

The “Pathology and Laboratory Procedures” grouping describes Medicaid-billed services of a certain type, organized by standardized HCPCS and CPT code ranges. Codes for this analysis were assigned to a single service category following consistent prefixes and ranges, ensuring related procedures are analyzed together without overlap and with accurate long-term rankings.

Among the various service groups with increased Medicaid expenditures, Pathology and Laboratory Procedures was the second-highest in Grand Bay by total payment in 2024.

Statewide, Pathology and Laboratory Procedures ranked third among Medicaid payment categories in Alabama in 2024.

Between 2019 and 2024, Grand Bay’s Medicaid-related expenditures in the Pathology and Laboratory Procedures category climbed $243,497, or 1146.9%. Some years, such as 2021 and 2022, saw particularly sharp increases compared with the prior year.

Though Pathology and Laboratory Procedures expenditures spanned the city, payments in 2024 were mostly concentrated within a small set of ZIP codes. Of note, ZIP code 36541 accounted for $264,728, comprising 100% of Grand Bay’s spending within this service category for the year.

Spending within the Pathology and Laboratory Procedures classification was also focused in a smaller subset of procedure billing codes.

Comparing data for Grand Bay, claims payments tied to Pathology and Laboratory Procedures grew 89.2% between 2024 and 2023, while citywide Medicaid claims for all categories increased by 14.5% during that same interval.

According to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, joint state-federal Medicaid spending reached about $871.7 billion in fiscal year 2023, which was around 18% of total national health spending, up from about $613.5 billion in 2019, prior to the COVID-19 pandemic.

This growth marks an increase of roughly 40% over a few years, fueled largely by higher enrollment and greater health care utilization during the pandemic and its aftermath.

Recent federal budget legislation enacted during the Trump administration introduced major plans to decrease Medicaid expenditure and transform the program’s structure. For instance, the “One Big Beautiful Bill Act,”, which became law in 2025, is expected to reduce federal Medicaid spending by over $1 trillion during the next 10 years. It also adds requirements such as work obligations and higher cost-sharing, potentially impacting coverage and funding for certain beneficiaries. These policy changes are projected to shift a greater share of costs to states, restricting federal Medicaid contributions even as millions of Americans continue to rely on the program.

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.