Larned Medicaid billing for pathology and laboratory procedures climbs to $585 in 2024

In 2024, Medicaid providers in Larned billed $585 for services classified in the Pathology and Laboratory Procedures category, according to data from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Medicaid Provider Spending database. This amount marks an increase of 114.3% from 2023, when $273 in claims were submitted for comparable services.

Medicaid, a public health insurance program managed by each state in partnership with federal funding, covers low-income residents, families, seniors, children and individuals with disabilities. The program is a major component of the overall U.S. health care system. Find out more about federal and state funding at this resource.

With Medicaid financed by taxpayers, adjusting billing at the community level directly indicates how public health care funding is distributed within localities.

The “Pathology and Laboratory Procedures” classification includes a set of Medicaid services determined by the nature of the care and defined through standardized HCPCS and CPT coding groups. In this analysis, each billing code falls into a single category using uniform code prefixes and numeric sequences, helping analysts review related services together, minimize double-counting, and ensure consistent year-over-year rankings.

Medicaid spending rose in several service groupings, but Pathology and Laboratory Procedures held the third-highest position by total payment in Larned in 2024.

Statewide in Kansas, Pathology and Laboratory Procedures ranked fifth for total Medicaid payments in 2024.

Over the five-year period through 2024, Medicaid-related payments for Pathology and Laboratory Procedures in Larned increased by $336, or 135.3%. This category saw particularly strong jumps in spending during select years, with sharp increases observed in 2023 and 2022.

Although payments were distributed throughout Larned, the majority were concentrated in specific ZIP codes. In 2024, ZIP code 67550 generated $585 in Medicaid spending for the Pathology and Laboratory Procedures category. The leading 1 ZIP code accounted for the entirety of claims for this category in Larned for the year.

Within this category, Medicaid dollars were assigned largely to a select portion of billing codes.

Comparing spending growth across categories, Pathology and Laboratory Procedures in Larned showed a 114.3% rise between 2024 and 2023. By contrast, overall Medicaid claim payments in the city increased 28.5% during the same timeframe.

According to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, total Medicaid spending by both federal and state governments hit an estimated $871.7 billion in fiscal year 2023, or about 18% of total national health expenditures. This figure rose rapidly from about $613.5 billion in 2019, in advance of the COVID-19 pandemic.

This acceleration represents close to 40% overall growth within a few years, largely propelled by expanded enrollment and increased usage during and after the pandemic.

Recent federal budget measures under the Trump administration have brought forward substantial proposals to lower federal funding for Medicaid and alter how the program operates. The “One Big Beautiful Bill Act,” enacted in 2025, is expected to reduce federal Medicaid spending by more than $1 trillion over 10 years. The law introduces policies such as work requirements and higher cost-sharing that could reduce both benefit coverage and funds for some enrollees. These changes are anticipated to increase states’ share of Medicaid costs and restrain the pace of federal support, while the program continues serving tens of millions nationally.

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.