Medicaid outlays for ambulance and transport services in Montague, California total $1,826,423 for 2024

In 2024, Montague Medicaid providers submitted $1,826,423 in claims for Ambulance and Other Transport Services and Supplies, based on the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Medicaid Provider Spending database. This represented a 71.8% jump from the previous year, when $1,062,844 was billed for the same services.

Medicaid operates as a public health insurance program managed by states and backed by both federal and state governments. It supports low-income families and individuals, seniors, children, and those with disabilities, standing as one of the largest components of U.S. health care.

Since Medicaid funding is taxpayer-based, fluctuations in billing within local communities illustrate how public health funding is distributed at the local level.

The “Ambulance and Other Transport Services and Supplies” designation includes Medicaid services grouped by care type, using standardized HCPCS and CPT billing codes. For this assessment, each code was placed into a service category using set code ranges and prefixes, ensuring services are grouped together and avoiding overlaps to maintain accurate annual rankings.

Ambulance and Other Transport Services and Supplies led all Medicaid categories in Montague by payment volume in 2024, amid increases observed in various service categories.

Statewide in California, Ambulance and Other Transport Services and Supplies ranked ninth in terms of Medicaid payout during the same year.

Across the five-year window up to 2024, Medicaid expenditures on Ambulance and Other Transport Services and Supplies in Montague rose by $1,826,423, marking no percentage change. Notable period-over-period spending jumps occurred in both 2023 and 2022.

Though services spanned Montague, the majority of Medicaid payments for Ambulance and Other Transport Services and Supplies were focused in a handful of ZIP codes. In 2024, ZIP code 96064 accounted for $1,826,422 in payments, comprising 100% of the city’s total for this category that year.

Payments in the Ambulance and Other Transport Services and Supplies group also clustered around a few types of individual billing codes.

Comparatively, Montague saw a 71.8% increase in Medicaid payments for Ambulance and Other Transport Services and Supplies between 2024 and 2023, while the city saw a 78.3% increase across all claim categories over the same span.

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services reports that federal and state Medicaid spending topped $871.7 billion in fiscal year 2023, making up about 18% of all national health expenditures. This figure was significantly higher than the roughly $613.5 billion spent in 2019, prior to the COVID-19 pandemic.

This jump reflects growth of about 40% over several years, largely attributed to increased enrollment and greater usage during and after the pandemic.

Federal budget measures during the Trump administration brought forward major plans to reduce federal Medicaid funding and adjust the program structure. The “One Big Beautiful Bill Act,”, enacted in 2025, is expected to result in federal Medicaid cuts exceeding $1 trillion in the next decade and add requirements such as work mandates and more cost-sharing, potentially reducing both coverage and funding for some recipients. These adjustments are likely to place additional financial pressures on states and place limits on future federal Medicaid growth as the program continues to serve 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.