Fort Smith reports at least $26,255 in Medicaid COVID-19 spending for 2024

Fort Smith’s Medicaid-related spending reached at least $26,255 in 2024 for services billed using HCPCS codes designated for COVID-19, data from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Medicaid Provider Spending database shows. This reflects a 17.4% increase over 2023, when $22,365 in claims linked to those codes were submitted by providers.

Comparisons with earlier years in this article refer to the most recent prior year of available data.

Medicaid is a state-run public insurance program funded jointly by state and federal governments. It primarily serves low-income residents, seniors, children and individuals with disabilities, making it a central component of the nation’s health care system.

Since taxpayer funding supports Medicaid payments, shifts in billing at the local level can indicate how a community’s health care resources are distributed.

This analysis includes only services specifically designated as “COVID-19” or “coronavirus”-related based on HCPCS code descriptions and reference data. As such, totals only reflect services labeled as COVID-specific in billing, and do not include pandemic-related services billed with broader or differently classified codes.

Among Arkansas cities, Jonesboro reported the largest sum in Medicaid payments for COVID-19 services in 2024, recording $328,664 in virus-related claims.

Six providers in Fort Smith billed Medicaid for COVID-19–coded services in 2024. One of the most frequently used codes, COVID Specific, accounted for $18,206 of the total.

Average payments per provider for COVID-19–related Medicaid billing in Fort Smith came to $4,376—below the Arkansas average of $12,964 for similar services.

During the pandemic, spending on COVID-19–specific services formed a notable contribution to increased Medicaid expenses in Fort Smith.

Total Medicaid payments for all other services rose by $10,409,907 between 2020 and 2024, translating to a 25.5% increase.

In the two years before the pandemic, average yearly Medicaid payments in Fort Smith were $40,444,967.

Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services data shows that federal and state Medicaid spending together totaled around $871.7 billion in fiscal 2023, about 18% of overall national health costs, up from $613.5 billion in 2019 before the pandemic.

This increase marks roughly 40% growth, largely due to greater enrollment and higher program use during and after the pandemic years.

Major federal budget actions during the Trump administration have proposed considerable changes to Medicaid funding and structure. The “One Big Beautiful Bill Act,” enacted in 2025, is estimated to reduce federal Medicaid spending by more than $1 trillion through the next decade and adds measures like work requirements and higher cost-sharing, which could lessen coverage and funding for some enrollees. These policies are expected to increase state responsibility for costs and restrict growth in federal Medicaid spending while the program continues serving millions of Americans.

Note: Includes HCPCS codes explicitly labeled for COVID-19 services; totals do not represent all pandemic-related health care spending.

This information was sourced from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Medicaid Provider Spending database. Full source data is available here.