Gretna Medicaid providers submitted $1,595,817 in claims for services within the Ambulance and Other Transport Services and Supplies category in 2024, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Medicaid Provider Spending database shows. That amount reflects a 30.2% rise compared to 2023, when claims in this service type totaled $1,225,719.
Medicaid, a public insurance program managed by each state and financed through a federal-state partnership, provides coverage for low-income communities, including families, seniors, children, and individuals with disabilities. It remains a major part of the U.S. health care landscape.
Because Medicaid is funded by taxpayers, shifts in local billing reveal how public health resources are deployed within the community.
The “Ambulance and Other Transport Services and Supplies” category is based on service type, organized by standardized HCPCS and CPT code groupings. Each billing code for this review was placed in a single category using specific code prefixes and number ranges. This approach enables analysis of related services together while preventing duplicate counts and ensuring accurate year-over-year comparisons.
Ambulance and Other Transport Services and Supplies was the sixth biggest category for Medicaid payments in Gretna during 2024, following an increase across multiple service groups.
This category was the fifth largest in Louisiana by Medicaid payments in 2024.
Between the five-year period ending in 2024, Gretna’s Medicaid payments tied to this group surged by $980,528, an increase of 159.4%. Notable year-to-year jumps in spending occurred in both 2023 and 2021.
Within the city, while payment volumes for ambulance and transport services were distributed, the funds primarily came from a small set of ZIP codes. In 2024, ZIP code 70053 alone accounted for $1,595,816. All Medicaid payments in the category for the year came from this top ZIP code.
Most payments within this services category centered on a small subset of individual billing codes, as well.
For context, payments for Ambulance and Other Transport Services and Supplies category in Gretna were up by 30.2% between 2024 and 2023, compared with a 6.2% shift for all Medicaid spending categories in the city over the same time frame.
According to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, total federal and state Medicaid expenditures were about $871.7 billion in fiscal 2023, making up approximately 18% of the nation’s health spending. That’s a significant rise from $613.5 billion in 2019, prior to the COVID-19 pandemic.
This spike marks nearly 40% growth in a few years, largely linked to increased enrollment and greater service use during the pandemic and its aftermath.
The Trump administration’s recent federal budget legislation included major efforts to decrease federal spending on Medicaid and alter how the program functions. The “One Big Beautiful Bill Act,” signed into law in 2025, aims to cut more than $1 trillion in federal funds from Medicaid over the next 10 years and includes provisions such as work requirements and higher cost-sharing that could reduce both coverage and funding for parts of the beneficiary population. These changes could push greater costs toward states and reduce the future growth of federal Medicaid help, even as the program continues to serve tens of millions across the U.S.
| Year | Total Medicaid Payments | % Change From Previous Year |
|---|---|---|
| 2020 | $615,288 | -14.8% |
| 2021 | $788,657 | 28.2% |
| 2022 | $736,221 | -6.6% |
| 2023 | $1,225,718 | 66.5% |
| 2024 | $1,595,816 | 30.2% |
| Rank | Category | Medicaid Payments | Share of City Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Temporary National Codes (Non-Medicare) | $19,838,747 | 48.4% |
| 2 | National Codes Established for State Medicaid Agencies | $7,119,771 | 17.4% |
| 3 | Alcohol and Drug Abuse Treatment | $3,723,522 | 9.1% |
| 4 | Pathology and Laboratory Procedures | $3,692,503 | 9% |
| 5 | Evaluation and Management | $3,688,177 | 9% |
| 6 | Ambulance and Other Transport Services and Supplies | $1,595,816 | 3.9% |
| 7 | Medicine Services and Procedures | $686,695 | 1.7% |
| 8 | Dental Services | $455,556 | 1.1% |
| 9 | Procedures / Professional Services | $113,336 | 0.3% |
| 10 | Surgery | $27,318 | 0.1% |
| 11 | Radiology Procedures | $21,333 | 0.1% |
| 12 | Durable Medical Equipment | $14,233 | <0.1% |
| 13 | Vision Services | $12,896 | <0.1% |
| 14 | Drugs Administered Other than Oral Method | $511 | <0.1% |
| 15 | Medical And Surgical Supplies | $12 | <0.1% |
| 16 | Administrative, Miscellaneous and Investigational | $1 | <0.1% |
| HCPCS Code | Description | Medicaid Payments | Claims |
|---|---|---|---|
| A0429 | Bls-emergency | $635,557 | 23 |
| A0427 | Als1-emergency | $464,216 | 22 |
| A0425 | Ground mileage | $249,495 | 23 |
| A0428 | Bls | $224,503 | 12 |
| A0382 | Basic support routine suppls | $18,864 | 12 |
| A0422 | Ambulance 02 life sustaining | $3,178 | 2 |
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.
