Ambulance and transport services drive $18,109,984 in Medicaid payments for Elmhurst in 2024

Elmhurst Medicaid providers collected $18,109,984 in 2024 for Ambulance and Other Transport Services and Supplies, according to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Medicaid Provider Spending database. That total represents a 66.9% rise from 2023, when claims for the same services amounted to $10,852,419.

Medicaid, the joint federal- and state-funded public health insurance program, serves low-income individuals and families, seniors, children, and people with disabilities. It is a key component of the American health care system, with cost responsibilities shared between state and federal governments.

Because Medicaid funding relies on taxpayer dollars, shifts in local reimbursement levels signal how public health care funds are distributed in a given community.

The "Ambulance and Other Transport Services and Supplies" category groups select Medicaid-billed services based on the type of care delivered, using standardized HCPCS and CPT coding classifications. For this review, individual billing codes were sorted strictly within a single service category via consistent code prefixes and numerical sequences, ensuring services are studied together without double-counting or impacting rankings over time.

While multiple service categories in Elmhurst saw increased Medicaid spending, Ambulance and Other Transport Services and Supplies led all categories in total 2024 Medicaid payments.

At the state level, this category ranked second overall in Illinois for Medicaid spending in 2024.

Between 2020 and 2024, Elmhurst’s Medicaid spending for Ambulance and Other Transport Services and Supplies rose by $4,967,582, or 37.8%. Certain periods saw especially fast growth, including notable increases between subsequent years in 2021 and 2023.

Throughout 2024, most spending for this service category was confined to a small number of Elmhurst ZIP codes. Of these, ZIP code 60126 accounted for $18,109,983, comprising all Medicaid payments in this grouping for the year in Elmhurst.

Payments within Ambulance and Other Transport Services and Supplies also centered around a narrow set of primary billing codes in 2024.

In comparison, Elmhurst’s 66.9% increase in Medicaid payments for this category between 2024 and 2023 outpaced the 23% overall rise across all local Medicaid claim types during the same timeframe.

According to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, national spending for Medicaid programs by both federal and state governments totaled around $871.7 billion in fiscal year 2023, or about 18% of U.S. health expenditures. This is a significant increase from 2019, when Medicaid’s share stood at approximately $613.5 billion, prior to the COVID-19 pandemic.

That rise reflects almost 40% growth within a few years, mainly attributed to broader participation and greater service demand during and after the pandemic.

Federal budget measures implemented during the Trump administration introduced proposals to reduce Medicaid funding and change the program’s federal architecture. The “One Big Beautiful Bill Act,” enacted in 2025, for example, is expected to cut federal Medicaid outlays by more than $1 trillion over 10 years and implement requirements including work obligations and expanded cost-sharing. These changes may reduce coverage and financial support for some enrollees, potentially shifting more program costs to individual states as federal contributions are scaled back.

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.