Semmes Medicaid spending for Medicine Services and Procedures increases to $163,849 in 2024

Providers in Semmes submitted $163,849 in Medicaid claims for the Medicine Services and Procedures category in 2024, data from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Medicaid Provider Spending database show. This amount marked a 70% increase from 2023, when claims in this same category totaled $96,365.

Medicaid is a public insurance program operated by each state and funded jointly on the federal and state levels. The program supports low-income populations, seniors, children, and people with disabilities—making it a major component of the overall U.S. health care system.

Since taxpayer funding supports Medicaid, fluctuations in area billing levels reveal how public health care funds are spent locally in a given community.

The “Medicine Services and Procedures” category covers particular Medicaid-billed services, as identified by care type and grouped via standard HCPCS and CPT coding. For analysis, each billing code corresponds to only one category using uniform prefixes and code ranges. This allows for reviewing similar services together, eliminates overlaps, and helps maintain consistent annual rankings.

Spending across several service categories increased, but Medicine Services and Procedures placed third for Semmes’ total Medicaid payments in 2024.

Statewide in Alabama, this category ranked fourth in Medicaid payments for 2024.

Between 2020 and 2024, Semmes saw Medicaid payments linked to Medicine Services and Procedures grow by $67,984, or 70.9%. The most significant year-over-year growth occurred in 2021 and 2022.

Although these payments covered services citywide, most expenses were found in a single ZIP code. In 2024, ZIP code 36575 saw $163,848—making up 100% of Semmes’ Medicaid spending in this category for the year.

Within the category, most funds were associated with just a few billing codes.

In Semmes, category spending climbed by 70% from 2023 to 2024. For context, total Medicaid payments in the city across all categories rose 25.8% during the same timeframe.

Data from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services show combined federal and state Medicaid spending reached an estimated $871.7 billion in fiscal 2023, making up around 18% of national health expenditures—a sharp increase from $613.5 billion in 2019 before disruptions from COVID-19.

This jump represents nearly 40% growth within a few years, attributed primarily to wider enrollment and higher usage during and after the pandemic period.

Recent federal budget legislation during the Trump administration included major plans to lower federal Medicaid outlays and modify the program structure. The “One Big Beautiful Bill Act,” which became law in 2025, aims to cut federal Medicaid expenses by over $1 trillion in the coming decade and contains measures such as work requirements and higher cost-sharing, potentially leading to reduced coverage and funding for some. These adjustments are poised to leave more costs with the states and slow the expansion of federal Medicaid resources, though the program continues supporting millions.

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.