Houma Medicaid providers recorded $641,149 in COVID-19-related payments in 2024

In 2024, at least $641,149 in Medicaid payments in Houma was recorded for services related to COVID-19, based on HCPCS codes specifically identified in the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Medicaid Provider Spending database.

Medicaid is a public insurance program managed by individual states and financed in partnership by the federal government and each state. It provides health coverage to low-income residents, older adults, children, and individuals with disabilities, making it a major segment of the U.S. health care system.

Because taxpayer dollars fund Medicaid, shifts in local Medicaid billing reflect how public resources for health care are distributed within a community.

For this report, services considered COVID-19–related were those billed using HCPCS codes specified or categorized as “COVID-19” or “coronavirus”-related in their descriptions or reference materials. This means totals only include services explicitly labeled as COVID-19 in claims and omit pandemic-related care billed under broader or differently named codes.

By comparison, New Orleans saw the state’s highest Medicaid payments for COVID-19 services in 2024, amounting to $1,432,965 in related claims.

In Houma, there were nine providers who filed Medicaid claims for COVID-19–related services in 2024, with the COVID Specific code alone accounting for $441,943.

Medicaid payments in Houma averaged $71,239 per provider for COVID-19–specific services, surpassing the state average of $47,068.

For reference, the average annual Medicaid payments in Houma for the two years before the pandemic were $54,198,346.

According to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, combined federal-state Medicaid outlays reached about $871.7 billion in the 2023 fiscal year, accounting for roughly 18% of total U.S. health spending. This is a significant rise from around $613.5 billion in 2019, before COVID-19.

This rise marks an increase of close to 40% in a few years, largely due to higher enrollment and greater use during and after the pandemic period.

Recent federal budget laws from the Trump administration have included major proposals aimed at decreasing federal Medicaid expenditures and restructuring the system. For example, the “One Big Beautiful Bill Act,” signed in 2025, is anticipated to cut federal Medicaid funding by over $1 trillion over the next decade. It also introduces requirements such as work mandates and more cost-sharing, which could reduce coverage and funding for selected beneficiaries. These changes are poised to shift additional costs to states and potentially slow the growth of federal Medicaid contributions, even as the program continues to cover tens of millions nationwide.

Note: Includes HCPCS codes specifically marked for COVID-19 services; totals do not include all possible health care spending tied to the pandemic.

The information used in this report came from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Medicaid Provider Spending database. The source data can be found here.