Hammond Medicaid COVID-19 claims reach $443,500 for 2024

In 2024, Hammond Medicaid providers received a minimum of $443,500 in payments for services billed with HCPCS codes designated for COVID-19, according to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Medicaid Provider Spending database.

Medicaid, a government insurance program offered by states using joint state and federal funding, serves low-income individuals and families, seniors, children, and people with disabilities. It remains one of the most significant components of the nation’s health care system, as noted by the Commonwealth Fund.

Fluctuations in local Medicaid billing illustrate how taxpayer health spending is distributed within a community.

For this report, COVID-19–related services included HCPCS codes marked as “COVID-19” or “coronavirus” in billing records or reference data. This means the data represent only those services directly billed as COVID-related and exclude other pandemic-associated care categorized under more general codes.

Hammond had the highest COVID-19–specific Medicaid payout in the state in 2024.

Four different providers in Hammond filed Medicaid claims for COVID-19–related services that year, with the Immunoassay code accumulating $431,755, making it the most billed code.

Each Hammond provider averaged $110,875 in Medicaid payments for COVID-19–related services, a figure that tops the state average of $17,610.

COVID-19–linked services represented a significant share of Medicaid spending growth in Hammond throughout the core pandemic years.

Across the two years before the pandemic, Hammond reported average annual Medicaid payments of $12,699,988.

According to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, total federal and state expenditures on Medicaid reached approximately $871.7 billion in the 2023 fiscal year, which was about 18% of total national health spending and reflected an increase from $613.5 billion in 2019, prior to the COVID-19 pandemic.

This rise marks an estimated 40% increase in just a few years, mainly due to growth in enrollment and increased service utilization during and after the pandemic.

Recent federal legislation during the Trump administration enacted notable policy shifts to reduce federal Medicaid contributions and change program structure. The “One Big Beautiful Bill Act,” signed in 2025, is estimated to cut federal Medicaid spending by more than $1 trillion over 10 years and implements work requirements and additional cost-sharing. These changes are projected to shift additional Medicaid costs to states while constraining federal support, even as Medicaid continues to assist millions of individuals.

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

This article is based on information from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Medicaid Provider Spending database. The original data is accessible here.