Housatonic Medicaid bills for Temporary National Codes reach $1,297,804 in 2024

Housatonic health care providers billed Medicaid $1,297,804 for services in the Temporary National Codes (Non-Medicare) group in 2024, according to figures from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Medicaid Provider Spending database. This amount represented an 18.6% increase over 2023, when providers billed $1,094,352 for the same category of services.

Medicaid is a government health insurance initiative managed by states and funded through both federal and state contributions. It supports low-income individuals and families, seniors, children, and those with disabilities, making it a major segment of the U.S. health care system.

Since Medicaid funding is provided by taxpayers, trends in local billing amounts indicate shifts in public health care spending within the area.

The “Temporary National Codes (Non-Medicare)” grouping includes Medicaid-covered services assigned by care type, using unified HCPCS and CPT codes. This report categorized each billing code to one service group using consistent prefixes and numerical ranges, helping to analyze similar services together while preventing duplicate counts and ensuring reliable rankings across years.

While various Medicaid service categories saw spending growth, the Temporary National Codes (Non-Medicare) category ranked at the top by total Medicaid payments in Housatonic for 2024.

Across Massachusetts, Temporary National Codes (Non-Medicare) was the second largest category for Medicaid payments in 2024.

Between 2019 and 2024, Medicaid payments associated with the Temporary National Codes (Non-Medicare) group in Housatonic rose by $1,111,939, increasing 598.2%. Certain periods, notably 2021 and 2023, saw especially rapid annual growth.

Although services were billed citywide, most Temporary National Codes (Non-Medicare) Medicaid payments in 2024 were concentrated in a small number of ZIP codes. For example, ZIP code 01236 alone accounted for $1,297,803, representing the full 100% of Medicaid payments in this category in Housatonic during that year.

Medicaid spending within this category was also focused on a relatively small subset of billing codes.

For context, payments for Temporary National Codes (Non-Medicare) services in Housatonic increased by 18.6% from 2023 to 2024, a rate matching the 18.6% growth across all Medicaid claim categories locally for the same period.

Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services data show that combined federal and state Medicaid spending hit about $871.7 billion during fiscal year 2023, making up around 18% of the nation’s total health expenditures. This was up from roughly $613.5 billion in 2019, before the COVID-19 pandemic began.

This growth equals an increase of about 40% over just a few years, mainly because of higher enrollment and increased service use due to and following the pandemic.

Recent federal budget laws under the Trump administration brought forward proposals to decrease federal Medicaid funding and change the program’s structure. The “One Big Beautiful Bill Act,” enacted in 2025, is expected to trim federal Medicaid outlays by over $1 trillion over the coming decade. It implements work requirements and increased cost-sharing, potentially reducing benefits and funding for some enrollees. These policies likely shift more costs to states and restrict the expansion of federal Medicaid support, even as the program remains a critical resource for tens of millions across the country.

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.