COVID-19–linked Medicaid claims in Chalmette exceed $131,000 for 2024

In 2024, Medicaid payments for services directly identified by COVID-19–specific HCPCS codes in Chalmette amounted to at least $131,972, according to information from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Medicaid Provider Spending database.

Medicaid is a government health insurance program administered by each state and funded through both federal and state governments. It provides health coverage to low-income populations, including families, seniors, children, and people with disabilities, which makes it one of the country’s most significant health care programs.

Since Medicaid payments are taxpayer-funded, trends in local billing illustrate how public health care spending is distributed in a community.

The analysis used HCPCS codes with COVID-19 or “coronavirus” labeling in billing descriptions or datasets to identify relevant services. These totals include only services distinctly labeled as COVID-related, so pandemic care captured under more general or non-labeled codes is not included.

For comparison, New Orleans recorded the largest total of Medicaid payments for COVID-19–related services in Louisiana in 2024, with virus-specific claims reaching $1,432,965.

Five providers in Chalmette submitted Medicaid claims for COVID-19–linked services during 2024. The code labeled COVID Specific accounted for the majority, representing $101,762 of the total.

Chalmette’s average Medicaid payment per provider for COVID-specific services was $26,394, which is lower than the state’s average of $47,068 per provider for the same category.

Across other Medicaid claim categories, total payments in Chalmette increased by $3,638,392 from 2020 to 2024, which amounts to a 41.1% growth over this period.

Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services data shows that combined federal and state Medicaid outlays totaled around $871.7 billion in fiscal 2023, nearly 18% of all national health costs. That figure has risen significantly since 2019, before the COVID-19 pandemic, when spending was about $613.5 billion.

This growth, about 40% in just a few years, reflects expanded enrollment and increased use of services during and following the pandemic period.

Recently enacted federal budget laws signed under the Trump administration proposed large-scale reductions in federal Medicaid spending and structural changes to the program. The “One Big Beautiful Bill Act,” signed into law in 2025, is set to cut federal Medicaid support by more than $1 trillion over the coming decade, while new policies like work requirements and greater cost-sharing may limit or reduce coverage for certain beneficiaries. These measures are expected to move more financial responsibility to states and could restrict future federal Medicaid growth, even as the program continues to cover millions of Americans.

Note: These totals include only HCPCS codes marked specifically for COVID-19 services and do not encompass all health spending linked to the pandemic.

The information in this report comes from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Medicaid Provider Spending database. Find the source data here.