Laurel Hill sees $29,453 in Medicaid spending for Evaluation and Management services in 2024

Providers in Laurel Hill billed $29,453 to Medicaid for services in the Evaluation and Management category in 2024, data from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Medicaid Provider Spending database shows. This amount represents a 171% rise when compared to 2023, when claims for these services totaled $10,868.

Medicaid, a public health insurance program managed by states with both federal and state funding, provides coverage to low-income populations, seniors, children, and people with disabilities. It is one of the largest components of the U.S. health care system. For more information, see this explainer.

Since Medicaid is funded by taxpayers, trends in billing reflect how health spending is distributed locally and indicate priorities in community health allocations.

The “Evaluation and Management” category encompasses a specific set of Medicaid-billed services, grouped based on standardized HCPCS and CPT codes. Billing for this analysis was assigned to a single service category using uniform numeric ranges and code prefixes, ensuring all related services were grouped together without duplication, maintaining accuracy in both rankings and trends over time.

From the group of service categories, Evaluation and Management represented the highest Medicaid payment total in Laurel Hill for 2024.

Statewide in North Carolina, Evaluation and Management was second overall in Medicaid payment totals for 2024.

Across the five-year period through 2024, Medicaid payments in Laurel Hill for Evaluation and Management services rose by $29,453, or 0%. Periods of faster spending growth were observed, with significant year-over-year gains noted in 2022 and 2022.

Within Laurel Hill, Evaluation and Management category spending was concentrated in just a few ZIP codes. In 2024, ZIP code 28351 alone saw Medicaid payments totaling $29,452—representing 100% of citywide Medicaid spending for this service category that year.

Medicaid payments in the Evaluation and Management category were also focused on a small group of billing codes.

Looking at comparisons, Evaluation and Management Medicaid payments in Laurel Hill rose by 171% from 2023 to 2024, while all Medicaid claim categories in the city saw a 138.5% increase over that period.

According to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, federal and state Medicaid spending combined reached $871.7 billion in the 2023 fiscal year. This spending made up about 18% of total U.S. health care expenditures, rising sharply from around $613.5 billion in 2019, before the COVID-19 pandemic.

This increase amounts to approximately 40% growth over several years, primarily due to expanded enrollment and greater service utilization during and after the pandemic.

Federal budget policies enacted under the Trump administration have featured notable plans to cut federal Medicaid funding and change the program structure. The “One Big Beautiful Bill Act,” passed in 2025, is estimated to reduce federal Medicaid spending by more than $1 trillion over 10 years. The legislation brings new work requirements and increased cost-sharing, which could impact coverage and funding for certain groups. These changes are expected to place more financial responsibility on states and slow the growth of federal support, even as Medicaid continues covering tens of millions of Americans.

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.