Lake Waccamaw Medicaid Evaluation and Management payments reach $22,216 in 2024

In 2024, Medicaid providers in Lake Waccamaw filed $22,216 in claims for services under the Evaluation and Management category, data from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Medicaid Provider Spending database shows. This figure represents a 20.8% increase over 2023, when $18,385 was billed for the same category.

Medicaid, a state-operated public health insurance program funded by both federal and state governments, serves low-income individuals, families, seniors, children, and people with disabilities. It is a core component of the U.S. health care system.

Taxpayer sources fund Medicaid payments, so shifts in local billing volumes can indicate how communities allocate public health care dollars.

The “Evaluation and Management” designation covers a group of Medicaid-billed services defined according to standardized HCPCS and CPT code groupings. For this report, each billing code was mapped to a distinct service type using consistent code prefixes and numeric groupings, enabling categorization without duplicate counting and supporting accurate year-over-year comparisons.

While Medicaid spending rose in several service groups, Evaluation and Management held the No. 2 spot in Lake Waccamaw by Medicaid payment totals for 2024.

Across North Carolina, the Evaluation and Management category was also second by total Medicaid payments in 2024.

Over the five years ending in 2024, Medicaid payments for the Evaluation and Management category in Lake Waccamaw rose by $22,216, or 0%. Spending saw periods of more rapid growth, with year-over-year increases noted in 2022 and again in 2022.

Spending for Evaluation and Management care spanned the city but was focused within just a few ZIP codes. In 2024, ZIP code 28450 represented $22,215 in Medicaid payments within this category. In total, the leading single ZIP code accounted for 100% of the Evaluation and Management-related Medicaid payments in Lake Waccamaw for the year.

Among the Evaluation and Management category, Medicaid payments were largely focused around a small number of specific billing codes.

Comparatively, Medicaid spending tied to Evaluation and Management in Lake Waccamaw increased 20.8% between 2024 and 2023; citywide, across all Medicaid claim categories, payments rose 12.2% for the same stretch.

According to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, joint federal and state Medicaid expenditures reached approximately $871.7 billion during fiscal 2023, accounting for about 18% percent of total national health spending, up significantly from around $613.5 billion in 2019, prior to the COVID-19 pandemic.

This jump amounts to growth of about 40% over several years, a trend fueled mainly by higher enrollment and greater health care utilization before, during, and after the pandemic.

Federal budget laws passed under the Trump administration have incorporated major proposals intended to reduce federal Medicaid allocations and restructure the program. For instance, the “One Big Beautiful Bill Act,” enacted in 2025, is forecast to trim federal Medicaid spending by more than $1 trillion across the next decade and introduces changes such as work requirements and greater cost-sharing, potentially reducing coverage and funding for some recipients. These policy shifts will likely increase states’ financial responsibilities and may restrain the growth of federal support even as Medicaid continues serving 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.