East Greenwich Medicaid spending on ambulance and transport services climbs to $21,442 in 2024

East Greenwich Medicaid providers recorded $21,442 in payments for Ambulance and Other Transport Services and Supplies in 2024, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Medicaid Provider Spending data show. This total was 23.2% higher than in 2023, when $17,401 in claims were filed for the same services.

Medicaid, a health coverage program overseen by states with joint state and federal funding, covers low-income adults and families, older adults, children, and individuals with disabilities, making it a significant component of the country’s health care structure.

Since Medicaid is funded by taxpayers, shifts in local claims demonstrate how health care spending is distributed within a specific area.

The “Ambulance and Other Transport Services and Supplies” group refers to a selection of Medicaid-billed services determined by the nature of care provided, drawing from established HCPCS and CPT code groupings. In this analysis, each code has been attributed to a single category using precise code prefixes and ranges, allowing correlated services to be evaluated together without double counting and to maintain accurate historical ranking.

Medicaid expenditures rose across several service lines, with Ambulance and Other Transport Services and Supplies ranked fourth by payment total in East Greenwich for 2024.

Statewide in Rhode Island, this same category placed 10th in terms of total Medicaid disbursements for 2024.

Between 2019 and 2024, Medicaid spending for Ambulance and Other Transport Services and Supplies in East Greenwich grew by $19,516, or 1013.2%, reflecting sharp escalations during some years, particularly in 2021 and 2023.

Citywide payments in this transport services category were focused in a few ZIP codes. In 2024, ZIP code 02818 accounted for $21,441 in Medicaid payments, representing 100% of the category’s spending in East Greenwich that year.

Most payments within the Ambulance and Other Transport Services and Supplies group derived from a small set of billing codes.

For context, payments for Ambulance and Other Transport Services and Supplies in East Greenwich increased by 23.2% from 2023 to 2024, compared to an 8.2% increase across all other Medicaid categories locally for the same period.

Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services data reports that joint federal and state Medicaid outlays reached about $871.7 billion during fiscal year 2023, about 18% of all U.S. health care expenditures and up sharply from around $613.5 billion in 2019, before COVID-19.

This represents an increase of about 40% in a short period, with enrollment growth and higher usage as primary drivers during and following the pandemic.

Federal budget measures passed during the Trump administration included major initiatives to decrease Medicaid funding and reform the program. The “One Big Beautiful Bill Act,” enacted in 2025, is anticipated to reduce federal Medicaid spending by over $1 trillion through the coming decade and bring in policies such as work requirements and more cost-sharing, which could lower funding and coverage for certain enrollees. These adjustments are likely to place more responsibility on states and limit the expansion of federal Medicaid contributions while Medicaid continues to cover tens of millions nationwide.

Note: HCPCS codes are shown for context within the category. Category totals and rankings in this article are based on standardized service groupings rather than individual billing codes.

Information in this article was obtained from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Medicaid Provider Spending database. The source data can be found here.