Medicaid providers in Blountstown submitted $26,128 in claims for Pathology and Laboratory Procedures services in 2024, based on data from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Medicaid Provider Spending database. This represented a 3.5% rise from 2023, when providers claimed $25,251 for these services.
Medicaid is a public health coverage program administered by states and funded in partnership by federal and state governments. It serves low-income groups, older adults, children, and people with disabilities, making it one of the largest segments within the U.S. health system.
Because Medicaid is taxpayer funded, variances in billing at the local level reveal how health spending is distributed within a community.
The “Pathology and Laboratory Procedures” classification includes a set of Medicaid-covered services organized according to standardized HCPCS and CPT code groupings. Each billing code in this review was assigned to a designated service category, using consistent code ranges and prefixes, enabling the analysis of related services without duplicating counts and supporting accurate, ongoing comparisons and rankings.
While Medicaid spending climbed across multiple service categories, Pathology and Laboratory Procedures held the fifth spot among Blountstown’s service categories by Medicaid payments in 2024.
Across Florida, Pathology and Laboratory Procedures were ranked sixth in total Medicaid payments during 2024.
Between 2019 and 2024, Blountstown’s Medicaid payments for services in the Pathology and Laboratory Procedures group increased by $77,023, or 74.7%. Growth rate fluctuations occurred during this period, including pronounced increases year-over-year in both 2020 and 2022.
Even though care was delivered throughout the city, Medicaid spending for Pathology and Laboratory Procedures was concentrated in a small number of ZIP codes. In 2024, ZIP code 32424 accounted for the full $26,128 total in this category, making up 100% of the listed Medicaid payments for Pathology and Laboratory Procedures in Blountstown that year.
Payments in this service category were also grouped among a select number of billing codes.
In comparison, the local change of 3.5% in Pathology and Laboratory Procedures Medicaid payments between 2024 and 2023 was measured against a 40.6% change across all claim categories for Medicaid within Blountstown during the same timeframe.
Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services data show joint federal and state Medicaid expenditures totaled approximately $871.7 billion in fiscal year 2023, or about 18% of U.S. health care expenses—substantially more than $613.5 billion in 2019, before the coronavirus pandemic.
This jump equals nearly 40% growth in a few years, largely resulting from higher enrollment and utilization of services during, and following, the pandemic.
Federal budget laws enacted during the Trump administration called for significant cuts to federal Medicaid contributions and shifts in program structure. Notably, the “One Big Beautiful Bill Act,” signed in 2025, is estimated to trim more than $1 trillion from federal Medicaid support over the coming decade while instituting measures such as work requirements and greater cost-sharing that may reduce access and funding for some groups. This is likely to move additional responsibility to states and could constrain federal Medicaid growth, as the program continues to assist tens of millions of Americans.
| Year | Total Medicaid Payments | % Change From Previous Year |
|---|---|---|
| 2020 | $103,151 | 1.9% |
| 2021 | $100,092 | -3% |
| 2022 | $51,800 | -48.2% |
| 2023 | $25,251 | -51.3% |
| 2024 | $26,128 | 3.5% |
| Rank | Category | Medicaid Payments | Share of City Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Alcohol and Drug Abuse Treatment | $897,714 | 55.2% |
| 2 | Evaluation and Management | $523,187 | 32.2% |
| 3 | Ambulance and Other Transport Services and Supplies | $96,217 | 5.9% |
| 4 | National Codes Established for State Medicaid Agencies | $51,809 | 3.2% |
| 5 | Pathology and Laboratory Procedures | $26,128 | 1.6% |
| 6 | Dental Services | $13,070 | 0.8% |
| 7 | Medicine Services and Procedures | $12,091 | 0.7% |
| 8 | Temporary National Codes (Non-Medicare) | $6,652 | 0.4% |
| 9 | Radiology Procedures | $72 | <0.1% |
| 10 | Surgery | $5 | <0.1% |
| 11 | Procedures / Professional Services | $0 | <0.1% |
| HCPCS Code | Description | Medicaid Payments | Claims |
|---|---|---|---|
| 87502 | Influenza dna amp probe | $17,047 | 18 |
| 87804 | Influenza assay w/optic | $2,334 | 10 |
| 87426 | Sarscov coronavirus ag ia | $2,078 | 7 |
| 87880 | Strep a assay w/optic | $1,694 | 15 |
| 80053 | Comprehen metabolic panel | $1,597 | 26 |
| 87635 | Sars-cov-2 covid-19 amp prb | $472 | 18 |
| 85025 | Complete cbc w/auto diff wbc | $338 | 19 |
| 80061 | Lipid panel | $310 | 1 |
| 87651 | Strep a dna amp probe | $253 | 14 |
| 81001 | Urinalysis auto w/scope | $0 | 1 |
| 83735 | Assay of magnesium | $0 | 1 |
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.
