Medicaid payments in Fort Duchesne linked to $719 in COVID-19 services in 2024

At least $719 in Medicaid funds were paid out in Fort Duchesne in 2024 for services billed under HCPCS codes flagged for COVID-19, according to data compiled from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Medicaid Provider Spending database.

Medicaid operates as a publicly funded health insurance plan administered by individual states and jointly financed by state and federal governments. It supports low-income residents, children, older adults, and those with disabilities, ranking as one of the country’s major health care programs.

Because Medicaid’s funding is sourced from taxpayer dollars, changes in local claims reflect the direction of publicly funded health care spending within a region.

Researchers identified COVID-19–specific care according to HCPCS medical codes—inclusive of those explicitly referring to “COVID-19” or “coronavirus” within claim descriptions or supporting references. Because of this approach, only services directly classified as COVID-related are reflected in these numbers, not pandemic-related cases billed under broader categories.

By contrast, Salt Lake City had the highest annual Medicaid claims for COVID-19–tagged services statewide in 2024, totaling $39,316 for virus care.

Records show that the only provider submitting Medicaid claims for COVID-19 services within Fort Duchesne in 2024 was Dhhs Ihs Phoenix Area.

COVID-19–specific billing contributed substantially to Medicaid spending growth in the city during pandemic-era years.

In the two years before the pandemic, annual Medicaid spending in Fort Duchesne averaged $391,410.

According to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, Medicaid programs—financed by both states and the federal government—incurred about $871.7 billion in costs during fiscal year 2023. This accounted for roughly 18% of the nation’s health care expenditures. That’s a steep increase from $613.5 billion in 2019, prior to the COVID-19 crisis.

This jump amounts to about 40% growth over those years, largely attributed to more people enrolling in Medicaid and increased use of benefits during and after the pandemic.

Recent federal budget actions under the Trump administration included notable reforms set to reduce the size of federal Medicaid contributions and to alter its overall structure. One example, the “One Big Beautiful Bill Act,” enacted in 2025, is projected to cut over $1 trillion in Medicaid over the next 10 years, adding policies such as work requirements and new cost-sharing that may limit coverage or reduce benefits for certain groups. This overarching overhaul is expected to shift greater financial responsibility to states and restrict additional federal Medicaid funding growth, even as dozens of millions continue receiving coverage.

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

This report’s information is based on the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Medicaid Provider Spending database. The full dataset is available here.