Satsuma reports $3,042 in Medicaid payments for durable medical equipment in 2024

In 2024, Medicaid providers in Satsuma billed a total of $3,042 for services in the Durable Medical Equipment category, based on figures from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Medicaid Provider Spending database. This represented a 54.2% rise from 2023, when $1,973 in claims were submitted for these services.

Medicaid, a public insurance program administered by states and jointly funded by federal and state governments, covers low-income people, seniors, children and individuals with disabilities. This makes it a major component of the nation’s health care system. More about Medicaid funding can be found here.

Because taxpayer dollars fund Medicaid payments, local billing fluctuations highlight how public health care funding is distributed throughout a community.

The Durable Medical Equipment category includes Medicaid-billed services grouped by the type of care provided and is defined through standardized HCPCS and CPT code groupings. For this report, analysts assigned each billing code to just one service category, using code prefixes and number ranges so related services could be analyzed together without double counting and accurate rankings could be maintained over time.

Durable Medical Equipment was the second highest Medicaid spending category in Satsuma in 2024, even as overall Medicaid disbursements increased in multiple categories.

Across Alabama, Durable Medical Equipment ranked 11th by total Medicaid payments in 2024.

Over the five years preceding 2024, Satsuma’s Medicaid payments for Durable Medical Equipment grew by $1,389—an increase of 84.1%. The most notable year-over-year spending jumps were observed in 2023 and 2022, reflecting periods of faster growth.

Spending in the Durable Medical Equipment category was spread across Satsuma but was most heavily concentrated in a few ZIP codes. In 2024, ZIP code 36572 saw $3,041 in associated Medicaid payments. This meant the top ZIP code accounted for the entire amount of Medicaid payments in this category within the city for the year.

Medicaid claims under the Durable Medical Equipment category were also focused on a select group of individual billing codes.

Looking at overall Medicaid claim types, Satsuma’s 54.2% increase in Durable Medical Equipment payments from 2023 to 2024 outpaced the citywide rise of 28.3% seen across all claim categories during that stretch.

According to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, total federal and state Medicaid spending hit about $871.7 billion in fiscal year 2023, accounting for roughly 18% of national health expenditures. This is up substantially from approximately $613.5 billion in 2019, before the COVID-19 pandemic.

The near-40% rise in spending over just a few years has been primarily fueled by expansion of Medicaid enrollment and increased utilization during and after the pandemic period.

Recent federal budget measures during the Trump administration have called for major reductions in federal Medicaid outlays and changes to the program structure. The “One Big Beautiful Bill Act,” enacted in 2025, is forecast to slash federal Medicaid spending by more than $1 trillion over the coming decade, implementing new work requirements and increased cost-sharing. Such policies may diminish coverage and funding for certain beneficiaries, put more pressure on state budgets, and restrict federal support, even as Medicaid continues to cover tens of millions of Americans.

Note: HCPCS codes are provided for context within the category. Rankings and totals are established using standardized service groupings, not by individual billing codes.

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Medicaid Provider Spending database is the source for the data in this article. The full dataset is available here.