Gallatin Medicaid payments for state-designated national codes climb 17.9% in 2024

Medicaid providers in Gallatin billed $10,890,224 for services categorized under the National Codes Established for State Medicaid Agencies in 2024, based on data from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Medicaid Provider Spending database. This was a 17.9% rise from 2023, when providers filed $9,239,070 in claims for the same classification of service.

Medicaid, a state-administered health insurance program funded jointly by federal and state governments, covers low-income people and families, seniors, children and those with disabilities, making it a core part of the U.S. health system.

Since Medicaid expenses are taxpayer-funded, shifts in local billing help illustrate how public healthcare resources are distributed at the community level.

The “National Codes Established for State Medicaid Agencies” group encompasses Medicaid-billed services defined by care type, based on standardized HCPCS and CPT code groupings. For this reporting, code assignments were made by service category using uniform prefixes and unique numeric intervals, which allowed grouped services to be tracked and ranked without duplication over time.

Medicaid expenditures climbed in several service groups, but in Gallatin, this category ranked first for total Medicaid payments in 2024.

Across Tennessee, the National Codes Established for State Medicaid Agencies group also led all categories in total Medicaid payment for 2024.

Across the five years prior to 2024, Medicaid payments tied to this service group in Gallatin grew by $7,124,521, equal to 189.2%. Periods of accelerated growth occurred, notably in 2023 and 2021.

Though expenditures were made citywide, Medicaid spending in this category was concentrated in a small number of ZIP codes. In 2024, ZIP code 37066 alone saw $10,890,223 in Medicaid payments under this group—meaning one ZIP accounted for 100% of related payments in Gallatin for the year.

Within the category, payments were further concentrated among a select group of billing codes.

Comparatively, while Gallatin’s Medicaid payments for this group rose 17.9% between 2024 and 2023, all claim categories in the city rose by 7.2% for the same period.

According to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, total state and federal Medicaid spending climbed to about $871.7 billion in fiscal year 2023, representing approximately 18% of all national health expenditures, a sharp increase from roughly $613.5 billion in 2019, before the COVID-19 pandemic.

This growth reflects about a 40% surge in just a few years, primarily due to expansion in enrollment and higher use during and after the pandemic period.

Recent federal budget actions under the Trump administration included major proposals to restrict federal Medicaid support and change how the program is structured. For instance, the “One Big Beautiful Bill Act,” enacted in 2025, is expected to reduce federal Medicaid spending by more than $1 trillion over a decade and impose policies such as work requirements and raised cost-sharing. These changes are projected to shift more financial responsibility to states and restrict the growth of federal support as Medicaid continues to serve millions.

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.