Gladwin Medicaid claims for COVID-19 total $32,375 in 2024

In 2024, Medicaid spending in Gladwin reached a minimum of $32,375 for services billed under COVID-19-specific HCPCS codes, based on data from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Medicaid Provider Spending database.

Medicaid is a government-run health insurance program, funded through a partnership of federal and state governments. It provides coverage for low-income individuals and families, seniors, children and people with disabilities—making it a key part of the U.S. health care system.

Taxpayers finance Medicaid payments, so changes in billing activity at the local level reveal how public health funds are distributed in each community.

This review identified COVID-19–related services by HCPCS codes marked or referenced as “COVID-19” or “coronavirus” in billing information. As such, only services directly identified as COVID-related by these codes are included. Other pandemic-period medical care, if billed with different designations, was not captured in this total.

By comparison, Detroit had the highest Medicaid total for COVID-19 labeled services in Michigan during 2024, with $432,564 in claims.

In Gladwin, the average Medicaid payment per provider for COVID-related care was $16,187, higher than the Michigan statewide average of $11,005.

Throughout the pandemic period, COVID-19–designated services contributed significantly to Medicaid spending growth in Gladwin.

Regarding all other claim types, total Medicaid spending increased by $583,783 from 2020 through 2024, a 28.1% rise.

During the two years before the pandemic, Gladwin’s mean annual Medicaid spending was $2,125,123.

Figures from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services show that total national Medicaid spending—federal and state—rose to approximately $871.7 billion in fiscal year 2023, which represented about 18% of all national health expenses, up from close to $613.5 billion in 2019, before the onset of COVID-19.

This marks an increase of roughly 40% within a few years, driven largely by greater enrollment and higher service usage during and after the pandemic period.

Federal budget measures approved during the Trump administration included efforts to decrease federal Medicaid spending and modify the program’s structure. The “One Big Beautiful Bill Act,” signed into law in 2025, is estimated to cut federal Medicaid funds by more than $1 trillion in the upcoming decade and introduces policies such as work requirements and increased out-of-pocket costs that could decrease funding and eligibility for certain recipients. As a result, there could be a shift in costs to state governments and a slowdown in federal Medicaid expansion, even as the program continues to provide coverage to millions.

Note: Totals include only HCPCS codes clearly marked for COVID-19 services and do not account for all health care spending related to the pandemic.

Details for this story come from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Medicaid Provider Spending database, which can be found here.