Northampton records $582,418 in Medicaid spending on ambulance, transport services in 2024

In 2024, Medicaid providers in Northampton submitted $582,418 in claims for Ambulance and Other Transport Services and Supplies, as reported by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Medicaid Provider Spending database. This amount represents an 89% rise from the $308,135 billed for the same services in 2023.

Administered by states and jointly funded by federal and state governments, Medicaid is a public health insurance initiative. It provides coverage for low-income individuals and families, seniors, children, and people with disabilities, making it one of the primary components of the U.S. health care system. For further information, see the Commonwealth Fund explainer.

Because taxpayer contributions fund Medicaid, local shifts in billing and spending patterns offer insight into how healthcare resources are distributed within a community.

The “Ambulance and Other Transport Services and Supplies” classification includes various Medicaid-billed services determined by the nature of care using set HCPCS and CPT code groupings. In this analysis, each code was assigned to one group based on consistent code prefixes and ranges to group similar services, avoid double counting, and enable accurate comparisons and rankings through time.

Medicaid expenditures grew in several categories locally, but Ambulance and Other Transport Services and Supplies led all other service categories in Northampton in total payment value for 2024.

Statewide, Pennsylvania ranked this service grouping sixth by total Medicaid payments in 2024.

Looking at the five years ending in 2024, Medicaid payments associated with the Ambulance and Other Transport Services and Supplies category in Northampton climbed by $541,362, or 1318.6%. This spending accelerated during certain years, with large increases seen in both 2021 and 2023.

Although spending on Ambulance and Other Transport Services and Supplies was distributed throughout Northampton, payments largely centered within just a few ZIP codes. In 2024, the 18067 ZIP code accounted for $582,418, amounting to 100% of all Medicaid payments to this service category in the city for that year.

Only a narrow set of individual billing codes accounted for the majority of payments within the Ambulance and Other Transport Services and Supplies grouping.

While Medicaid payments for this category in Northampton rose 89% from 2023 to 2024, spending across all Medicaid claim categories in the city grew by 78.3% in the same timeframe.

According to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, combined federal and state Medicaid expenditures amounted to around $871.7 billion in fiscal year 2023, representing roughly 18% of national health care costs. In 2019, prior to the pandemic, spending stood near $613.5 billion.

This 40% growth over a few years reflects higher participation levels and utilization, especially during and following the COVID-19 pandemic.

Recent federal legislation enacted under the Trump administration features several changes reducing federal Medicaid funding and restructuring coverage terms. The “One Big Beautiful Bill Act,” signed in 2025, is anticipated to reduce federal Medicaid support by over $1 trillion over 10 years and introduces work requirements and higher cost shares for some beneficiaries. These actions will likely increase the financial pressures on states amid continued high program enrollment.

Note: HCPCS codes are provided for context by category. The rankings and totals in this article use standardized service categories rather than individual billing codes.

Details referenced in this story are sourced from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Medicaid Provider Spending database. Original source data is available here.