Providers in Lafayette submitted $103,124,659 in Medicaid claims for Ambulance and Other Transport Services and Supplies in 2024, according to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Medicaid Provider Spending database. This represents an 18.1% increase compared with 2023, when providers filed $87,352,895 in claims for these services.
Medicaid, the state-administered public health insurance program, is financed by both federal and state governments. It serves low-income individuals and families, children, seniors and people with disabilities, making it a vital part of the U.S. health care system.
Since Medicaid is funded by taxpayer dollars, fluctuations in local billing reflect changes in allocation of public dollars for health care at the community level.
The “Ambulance and Other Transport Services and Supplies” category includes services identified according to care provided and standardized by HCPCS and CPT code groups. In compiling this analysis, billing codes were organized into individual service categories using predictable code prefixes and ranges to ensure accurate comparisons and to avoid double counting across years.
Although spending rose in several service categories, Ambulance and Other Transport Services and Supplies recorded the highest Medicaid payments in Lafayette for 2024.
Statewide in Louisiana, Ambulance and Other Transport Services and Supplies was the fifth largest Medicaid payment category by total dollar amount in 2024.
Between 2019 and 2024, Medicaid spending for Ambulance and Other Transport Services and Supplies in Lafayette climbed by $55,892,178, or 118.3%. Notably, the sharpest annual increases occurred during periods such as 2023 and 2020.
In 2024, spending within this category was focused primarily in a limited number of ZIP codes: 70508 accounted for $103,100,401, followed by 70503 at $18,408, and 70501 with $3,279. Combined, these 3 ZIP codes were responsible for all Medicaid payments for this service category in Lafayette for the year.
Payments in this group were also concentrated in select billing codes within the overall Ambulance and Other Transport Services and Supplies classification.
To provide context, the 18.1% rise in Lafayette Medicaid spending for Ambulance and Other Transport Services and Supplies between 2024 and 2023 far exceeded the citywide increase of 1.8% for all Medicaid categories over the same timeframe.
According to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, state and federal Medicaid expenditures together amounted to about $871.7 billion for the 2023 fiscal year, comprising roughly 18% of all U.S. national health care spending—up from about $613.5 billion in 2019, prior to the COVID-19 pandemic.
This jump corresponds to a roughly 40% rise over several years, largely due to increases in enrollment and health service use during and following the pandemic.
Recent U.S. budget measures signed under the Trump administration include significant Medicaid policy changes and funding reductions. The “One Big Beautiful Bill Act,” enacted in 2025, is expected to cut federal Medicaid spending by more than $1 trillion over the next decade, introducing work and cost-sharing requirements that could impact beneficiary coverage and state funding responsibilities as federal growth slows, even as demand remains high.
| Year | Total Medicaid Payments | % Change From Previous Year |
|---|---|---|
| 2020 | $47,232,480 | 13.8% |
| 2021 | $51,777,007 | 9.6% |
| 2022 | $57,693,829 | 11.4% |
| 2023 | $87,352,895 | 51.4% |
| 2024 | $103,124,659 | 18.1% |
| Rank | Category | Medicaid Payments | Share of City Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ambulance and Other Transport Services and Supplies | $103,124,659 | 32.2% |
| 2 | Temporary National Codes (Non-Medicare) | $60,861,157 | 19% |
| 3 | National Codes Established for State Medicaid Agencies | $50,123,710 | 15.6% |
| 4 | Evaluation and Management | $46,498,330 | 14.5% |
| 5 | Alcohol and Drug Abuse Treatment | $19,036,029 | 5.9% |
| 6 | Medicine Services and Procedures | $10,692,114 | 3.3% |
| 7 | Pathology and Laboratory Procedures | $7,713,873 | 2.4% |
| 8 | Durable Medical Equipment | $6,955,078 | 2.2% |
| 9 | Radiology Procedures | $3,636,610 | 1.1% |
| 10 | Surgery | $2,991,152 | 0.9% |
| 11 | Dental Services | $2,878,820 | 0.9% |
| 12 | Enteral and Parenteral Therapy | $2,140,674 | 0.7% |
| 13 | Procedures / Professional Services | $1,149,141 | 0.4% |
| 14 | Medical And Surgical Supplies | $1,018,704 | 0.3% |
| 15 | Chemotherapy Drugs | $393,318 | 0.1% |
| 16 | Drugs Administered Other than Oral Method | $330,713 | 0.1% |
| 17 | Orthotic Procedures and services | $296,876 | 0.1% |
| 18 | Anesthesia | $165,423 | 0.1% |
| 19 | Vision Services | $131,274 | <0.1% |
| 20 | Temporary Codes | $112,716 | <0.1% |
| 21 | Durable medical equipment (DME) Medicare administrative contractors (MACs) | $19,674 | <0.1% |
| 22 | Administrative, Miscellaneous and Investigational | $12,941 | <0.1% |
| 23 | Diagnostic Radiology Services | $7,740 | <0.1% |
| 24 | Outpatient PPS | $3,620 | <0.1% |
| 25 | Prosthetic Procedures | $351 | <0.1% |
| 26 | Other Services | $48 | <0.1% |
| HCPCS Code | Description | Medicaid Payments | Claims |
|---|---|---|---|
| A0427 | Als1-emergency | $48,500,008 | 15 |
| A0425 | Ground mileage | $21,555,158 | 16 |
| A0429 | Bls-emergency | $10,799,573 | 15 |
| A0428 | Bls | $6,302,600 | 12 |
| A0431 | Rotary wing air transport | $4,037,900 | 12 |
| A0436 | Rotary wing air mileage | $3,869,012 | 12 |
| A0398 | Als routine disposble suppls | $2,251,499 | 13 |
| A0394 | Als iv drug therapy supplies | $1,696,200 | 12 |
| A0434 | Specialty care transport | $1,181,997 | 12 |
| A0422 | Ambulance 02 life sustaining | $1,105,056 | 12 |
| A0433 | Als 2 | $794,327 | 12 |
| A0382 | Basic support routine suppls | $578,436 | 14 |
| A0426 | Als 1 | $305,190 | 12 |
| A0130 | Noner transport wheelch van | $147,698 | 45 |
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.
