Medicaid spending on ambulance and transport services in Cortland reaches $691,373 in 2024

In 2024, Medicaid providers in Cortland submitted $691,373 in claims for services labeled under the Ambulance and Other Transport Services and Supplies category, data from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Medicaid Provider Spending database shows. This reflects a 1.9% increase compared to the prior year, when providers filed $678,334 in claims for the same service type.

Medicaid, a public insurance program administered by the states and funded jointly by federal and state governments, provides coverage to low-income people, families, the elderly, children, and those with disabilities. The program remains a central component of the American health system.

Because Medicaid funding comes from taxpayers, shifts in local billing show how publicly allocated health care funds are distributed within a community.

The “Ambulance and Other Transport Services and Supplies” classification encompasses Medicaid-billed services grouped according to care type, as defined by standardized HCPCS and CPT code clusters. For this analysis, each code was categorized under a single service group using consistent code prefixes and numeric ranges, grouping related services and ensuring rankings remain accurate over time and that no services are double-counted.

While Medicaid expenditures grew across a range of service categories, Ambulance and Other Transport Services and Supplies was the fifth-largest by total Medicaid payments in Cortland during 2024.

Statewide in New York, Ambulance and Other Transport Services and Supplies ranked eighth for total Medicaid payments in 2024.

During the five years up to 2024, Medicaid payments for Ambulance and Other Transport Services and Supplies in Cortland increased by $154,282, or 28.7%. Certain years saw spending growth accelerate, particularly in 2020 and 2023.

Although these payments were distributed citywide, most were concentrated in just a few ZIP codes. In 2024, ZIP code 13045 accounted for $691,373 in Medicaid claims for Ambulance and Other Transport Services and Supplies, meaning the top 1 ZIP codes represented 100% of such payments in Cortland that year.

Within the Ambulance and Other Transport Services and Supplies category, most Medicaid payments were attached to only a handful of individual billing codes.

To compare, Medicaid payments for this category in Cortland rose 1.9% from 2023 to 2024, while payments across all Medicaid claim categories in the city increased by 42.2% over the same interval.

Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services data indicate federal and state Medicaid spending together totaled approximately $871.7 billion in fiscal year 2023, or about 18% of national health expenditures, up from roughly $613.5 billion in 2019, prior to the pandemic.

The increase amounts to growth of nearly 40% within several years, largely due to expanded enrollment and greater service use during and following the pandemic.

Recent federal budget actions during the Trump administration have featured major proposals aimed at reducing federal Medicaid funding and changing the program’s structure. For instance, the “One Big Beautiful Bill Act,” enacted in 2025, is projected to cut federal Medicaid spending by over $1 trillion over 10 years and brings new work requirements and higher cost-sharing, potentially limiting coverage and funding for some. The legislation is expected to transfer more financial responsibility to states and slow the growth of federal Medicaid assistance, as the program continues to serve tens of millions.

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.