Rhode Island Medicaid bills for ambulance and other transport services total $5,987,528 in 2024

Across Rhode Island, Medicaid payments for ambulance and other transport services and supplies amounted to $5,987,528 in 2024, records from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Medicaid Provider Spending database show. This figure marks a 25.4% rise compared to 2023, when providers filed $4,774,996 in related claims.

Medicaid is a public health coverage program managed by states and financed jointly through federal and state funds. It serves low-income groups, seniors, children and individuals with disabilities, making it a central part of the nation’s health care sector.

As Medicaid relies on taxpayer funding, fluctuations in billing across communities reveal changes in the allocation of public health care resources.

The “Ambulance and Other Transport Services and Supplies” category captures a range of Medicaid-billed services, grouped by care type using standardized HCPCS and CPT code designations. In compiling this analysis, billing codes were consistently assigned to service types by matching prefixes and numeric bands, allowing similar services to be examined together and reducing chances of duplication or misclassification over time.

Some categories may group several types of care. When that is the case, the service category includes related types of widely billed Medicaid services such as office consultations, diagnostic screening and procedures for treatment.

Over the five years ending in 2024, Medicaid payments for ambulance and other transport services and supplies in Rhode Island rose by $1,496,709, or 33.3%. Spending saw periods of sharper growth, especially with sizable increases reported in 2023.

Spending on ambulance and other transport services and supplies was distributed throughout the state, though payments were more heavily concentrated in select ZIP codes. In 2024, the largest Medicaid payments for this service category were reported in ZIP code 02903 ($1,488,578, or 24.9% of the state total), ZIP code 02914 ($631,419, or 10.5%), and ZIP code 02860 ($512,793, or 8.6%).

Together, these three ZIP codes contributed 44% of all Medicaid payments for ambulance and other transport services and supplies in Rhode Island for that year.

For comparison, Medicaid spending across all claim types in the state advanced by 0.3% from 2023 to 2024.

While Medicaid outlays increased in several service categories, ambulance and other transport services and supplies was among the 10 largest statewide by overall payments in 2024.

Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services data shows federal and state Medicaid spending reached about $871.7 billion in fiscal year 2023, representing roughly 18% of national health care spending—up sharply from $613.5 billion in 2019, prior to the COVID-19 pandemic.

This growth equates to an approximate 40% increase in just a few years, with much of the rise attributed to expanded enrollment and greater service utilization in the pandemic and post-pandemic years.

Recent federal budget measures under the Trump administration have included major proposals to lower federal Medicaid funding and overhaul the program. For instance, the “One Big Beautiful Bill Act,” signed into law in 2025, is expected to cut more than $1 trillion in federal Medicaid spending over the next 10 years and implement policies like work requirements and higher cost-sharing, which may reduce coverage for some recipients. These changes are forecast to increase states’ share of costs and restrain federal Medicaid growth, even as the program continues to serve tens of millions nationwide.