Bolivar Medicaid payments for ambulance and transport services reach $224,708 in 2024

In 2024, Medicaid providers in Bolivar billed $224,708 under the Ambulance and Other Transport Services and Supplies category, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Medicaid Provider Spending data shows. This figure represented a 23.6% uptick from 2023, when local providers billed $181,816 for the same service group.

Medicaid, a public health insurance program overseen by states and funded jointly between state and federal governments, covers a wide range of eligible groups. These include low-income individuals, seniors, children, and people with disabilities, making the program a major player in the U.S. health system.

Taxpayer funding for Medicaid means that variations in local claims reflect how public health dollars are distributed within the community.

The “Ambulance and Other Transport Services and Supplies” classification groups a selection of Medicaid-billed services, organized by the nature of care according to HCPCS and CPT code frameworks. For this analysis, each billing code was included in a single service classification based on code prefixes and number ranges, ensuring groupings were consistent and rankings were not duplicated from year to year.

Although Medicaid expenditures rose across several categories, Ambulance and Other Transport Services and Supplies ranked as the fifth-highest paid service category in Bolivar in 2024.

On a statewide basis, Ambulance and Other Transport Services and Supplies finished eighth in Tennessee for Medicaid payments by category in 2024.

Medicaid disbursements for Bolivar’s Ambulance and Other Transport Services and Supplies climbed $24,252—an increase of 9.7%—over the five years leading up to 2024. Periods including 2020 and 2023 saw more rapid year-over-year growth in spending within this group.

While use of these services was reported throughout the city, Medicaid payments were primarily billed to a select set of ZIP codes. In 2024, all payments in this category within Bolivar were assigned to ZIP code 38008, totaling $224,708. Together, the top ZIP code accounted for 100% of these Medicaid payments in the city that year.

A small group of billing codes made up the bulk of Medicaid payments for ambulance and transport services.

Claims payments for Ambulance and Other Transport Services and Supplies in Bolivar rose by 23.6% from 2023 to 2024, while overall Medicaid claim categories saw payrolls move by 31.7% in the city in the same timeframe.

According to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, combined federal and state Medicaid spending totaled about $871.7 billion for fiscal year 2023—about 18% of all national health expenses—a sharp rise from $613.5 billion before the COVID-19 pandemic in 2019.

This increase marks roughly 40% growth in a few years, attributable mainly to expanded enrollment and increased usage both during and after the pandemic era.

Recent federal budget measures under the Trump administration implemented sweeping changes to cut federal Medicaid spending and restructure the system. The “One Big Beautiful Bill Act,” enacted in 2025, is slated to reduce federal Medicaid funding by more than $1 trillion over the next decade while instituting policies such as heightened work requirements and larger cost-sharing fees, which could lower funding and change coverage options for some enrollees. These measures are expected to transfer a larger share of costs to states and dampen the expansion of federal Medicaid support, despite sustained enrollment serving millions across the country.

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.