Rutherfordton Medicaid paid $37,269 for COVID-19 services in 2024

Rutherfordton logged at least $37,269 in Medicaid payments for 2024 under HCPCS codes that specifically reference COVID-19, according to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Medicaid Provider Spending database. This total is a 32.8% rise from 2023, when COVID-related claims amounted to $28,074 for the same codes.

Medicaid operates as a state-administered public insurance system, receiving joint financial support from federal and state governments. The program serves low-income individuals, families, seniors, children, and those living with disabilities, making it a major component of the U.S. health care network.

Because taxpayer funds support Medicaid payments, shifts in local billing levels reveal how communities allocate public health care resources.

This analysis used HCPCS codes designated “COVID-19” or “coronavirus”–related in billing data and reference documentation to define the services. These numbers therefore represent only services explicitly coded as COVID-related and exclude any pandemic-driven care billed under different or broader code categories.

In comparison, Charlotte recorded the highest total Medicaid payments for COVID-19 services in North Carolina in 2024, at $2,373,883 in claims linked to virus-specific codes.

Rutherfordton’s average Medicaid payment per provider for COVID-19–coded services was $18,634, below the North Carolina average of $37,126 for that year.

COVID-19–specific services contributed to the overall growth in Medicaid spending in Rutherfordton throughout the pandemic period.

Medicaid payments for all other categories increased by $3,441,733 from 2020 to 2024, marking growth of 133.9%.

According to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, combined state and federal Medicaid expenditures totaled approximately $871.7 billion in fiscal year 2023, making up about 18% of national health spending, up from $613.5 billion in 2019, before the COVID-19 outbreak.

This increase of about 40% can be attributed to higher enrollment and greater utilization during and after the pandemic.

Federal budget measures enacted during the Trump administration included major proposals to reduce federal Medicaid contributions and alter the program’s structure. For instance, the “One Big Beautiful Bill Act,” approved in 2025, is estimated to reduce federal Medicaid spending by more than $1 trillion over ten years. The law introduces work requirements, increased cost-sharing, and other changes that may lower coverage and shift financial responsibility to states, even as the program covers tens of millions of Americans.

Note: Totals include only those HCPCS codes expressly marked for COVID-19 services and do not represent all pandemic-related health care billing.

Data in this report comes from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Medicaid Provider Spending database. The full dataset is available here.