At least $747 in Medicaid payments in Inchelium during 2024 were connected to services tracked by HCPCS codes specifically designating COVID-19, based on information found in the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Medicaid Provider Spending database.
Medicaid, administered by individual states and funded in partnership with federal and state governments, serves low-income populations, seniors, children, and people with disabilities and is one of the nation’s largest health insurance programs.
Since Medicaid is supported by taxpayer money, shifts in local billing patterns reveal how public health care funds are distributed at the community level.
This analysis considered only those COVID-19–related services associated with HCPCS codes described or categorized as “COVID-19” or “coronavirus” in billing details or reference materials. Therefore, the data includes just the services directly marked as COVID-19 in records and excludes pandemic-related care billed under more general or other medical codes.
Seattle had the highest Medicaid payments statewide linked to COVID-19 in 2024, with $461,706 in claims for virus-targeted services.
In 2024, Colville Nation Community Health Centers was the single provider in Inchelium submitting Medicaid claims for COVID-19–labeled services.
Over the pandemic years, a significant portion of growing Medicaid outlays in Inchelium was connected to services specifically tied to COVID-19.
Total Medicaid payments within all other claim categories rose by $781,190 between 2020 and 2024, a 44% increase.
During the two years before the pandemic, Inchelium averaged $1,868,666 annually in total Medicaid payments.
According to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, federal and state Medicaid outlays summed to approximately $871.7 billion in the 2023 fiscal year, representing about 18% of all U.S. health expenditures. This marked a significant rise from $613.5 billion in 2019, right before the COVID-19 pandemic.
This growth, roughly 40% in just a few years, stemmed in large part from broader enrollment and increased service use during and after the pandemic period.
Major federal budget actions during the Trump administration targeted substantial reductions in Medicaid’s federal funding and restructuring how the program operates. For instance, the “One Big Beautiful Bill Act,” signed into law in 2025, is projected to reduce federal Medicaid expenditures by over $1 trillion over the coming decade. The measure introduces requirements such as workforce participation and higher cost-sharing, which could reduce coverage and funding for certain beneficiaries. These regulations are expected to make states responsible for more Medicaid costs while restricting the federal contribution, despite the program continuing to cover tens of millions of Americans.
| Year | COVID-19–Related Payments | COVID-19 Payments % Change (YoY) | Total Medicaid Payments |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2024 | $747 | -74.6% | $2,557,730 |
| 2023 | $2,947 | -86.2% | $2,221,475 |
| 2022 | $21,417 | -62.9% | $1,996,253 |
| 2021 | $57,728 | 75.8% | $2,211,444 |
| 2020 | $32,833 | N/A | $1,808,626 |
| 2019 | $0 | N/A | $1,996,709 |
| 2018 | $0 | N/A | $1,740,623 |
| HCPCS Code | Description | Medicaid Payments | Claims |
|---|---|---|---|
| 87635 | COVID Specific | $747 | 15 |
Note: Includes HCPCS codes explicitly labeled for COVID-19 services; totals do not represent all pandemic-related health care spending.
Details for this article came from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Medicaid Provider Spending database. The original source data is available here.
