Ambulance and other transport Medicaid payments up 168.1% in Watkins Glen in 2024

In 2024, Medicaid providers in Watkins Glen filed $152,421 in claims for Ambulance and Other Transport Services and Supplies, according to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Medicaid Provider Spending database. This represents a 168.1% jump compared with 2023, when the same services were billed at $56,862.

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

Because Medicaid payments originate from taxpayer funds, fluctuations in local billing show how public health care resources are allocated within a community.

The “Ambulance and Other Transport Services and Supplies” group includes Medicaid-billed services categorized by the type of care, using standardized HCPCS and CPT code sets. For this report, each billing code was mapped to a single service group through set code prefixes and numeric ranges, enabling an examination of grouped services, avoiding double counting, and maintaining consistent rankings over time.

Spending on Ambulance and Other Transport Services and Supplies accounted for the largest share of Medicaid payments among all service categories in Watkins Glen in 2024.

Statewide, this category placed eighth by total Medicaid payments in New York in 2024.

Across the five years before 2024, Medicaid payments in Watkins Glen tied to this service rose $61,384, or 67.4%. Growth was higher in certain years, with especially large increases during 2020 and 2021.

Though Ambulance and Other Transport Services and Supplies payments were distributed throughout Watkins Glen, spending was concentrated in just a few ZIP codes. The 14891 ZIP code alone generated $152,420 in 2024, comprising 100% of the city’s Medicaid payments for this category that year.

Additionally, a few specific billing codes accounted for most of the payments within this category.

From 2023 to 2024, Medicaid payments linked to Ambulance and Other Transport Services and Supplies in Watkins Glen grew 168.1%, in contrast with a 72.9% overall increase across all Medicaid claim categories in the city during the same period.

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services reports that, in fiscal 2023, combined federal and state Medicaid expenditures totaled about $871.7 billion, which was around 18% of the nation’s total health spending. This figure increased sharply from around $613.5 billion in 2019, before the COVID-19 pandemic began.

The rise, about 40% over several years, has been mostly caused by expanded enrollment and higher usage during and after the pandemic.

Recent federal budget actions under the Trump administration included substantial proposals for Medicaid funding reductions and structural changes. Notably, the “One Big Beautiful Bill Act,” signed in 2025, is expected to cut more than $1 trillion from federal Medicaid spending over the next decade, introducing work requirements and higher cost-sharing that could affect coverage and funding for some recipients. These changes may shift greater costs onto states and restrict the growth of federal Medicaid support, even as the program continues to cover millions nationwide.

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.