Lombard Medicaid spending on ambulance and transport services grows 15.2% in 2024

In 2024, Lombard Medicaid providers billed $107,055,860 for Ambulance and Other Transport Services and Supplies, according to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Medicaid Provider Spending database. This represented a 15.2% rise from 2023, when $92,908,051 in claims were filed for the same category.

Medicaid is a state-administered public health insurance program funded in partnership by federal and state governments. It serves low-income individuals and families, seniors, children, and people with disabilities, making it one of the biggest segments of the U.S. health care system.

Since taxpayers fund Medicaid payments, shifts in local billing help illustrate how public health funds are distributed within a community.

The "Ambulance and Other Transport Services and Supplies" category includes a range of Medicaid services identified by specific care types, based on uniform HCPCS and CPT code groupings. For this report, billing codes were assigned to a single service category using defined code prefixes and ranges, allowing for grouped service analysis, reduced duplication, and reliable rankings over time.

While Medicaid spending increased in several service areas, Ambulance and Other Transport Services and Supplies led all categories in Lombard for total Medicaid payments in 2024.

Statewide in Illinois, Ambulance and Other Transport Services and Supplies was the second largest category by Medicaid payment total in 2024.

Over the five years prior to 2024, Medicaid payments for Ambulance and Other Transport Services and Supplies in Lombard grew by $85,251,733, or 391%. Spending growth accelerated at certain times, showing significant annual gains in 2020 and 2023.

Though care costs in Ambulance and Other Transport Services and Supplies were distributed throughout the city, payments focused heavily in specific ZIP codes. In 2024, ZIP code 60148 recorded the highest Medicaid payments within this group, totaling $107,055,859. Altogether, the top 1 ZIP code accounted for 100% of Lombard’s Medicaid payments for this category during the year.

Medicaid billing within Ambulance and Other Transport Services and Supplies was also concentrated among a small subset of billing codes.

Comparing growth, Medicaid payments for Ambulance and Other Transport Services and Supplies in Lombard increased 15.2% between 2024 and 2023, while all Medicaid claim categories in the city rose 10.3% during the same period.

According to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, combined federal and state Medicaid spending reached about $871.7 billion in fiscal year 2023, about 18% of total national health spending. This is up significantly from $613.5 billion in 2019, before the COVID-19 pandemic.

This represents an increase of around 40% in just a few years, mainly due to broader enrollment and greater service use during and after the pandemic.

Recent federal budget measures passed under the Trump administration have included substantial proposals to decrease federal Medicaid funding and alter program structure. The “One Big Beautiful Bill Act,” signed into law in 2025, is expected to cut more than $1 trillion in federal Medicaid spending over the next decade and adds regulations such as work requirements and higher cost-sharing, potentially reducing coverage and funding for some participants. This is likely to shift costs to states and slow federal Medicaid funding growth, even as the program continues serving millions.

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.