Medicaid spending on durable medical equipment surges 268.3% in Plains in 2024

According to data from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Medicaid Provider Spending database, Medicaid providers in Plains billed $7,410 for services under the Durable Medical Equipment category in 2024. This represented a 268.3% increase from 2023, when providers submitted $2,012 in claims for these services.

Medicaid, a state-run program that receives joint funding from federal and state governments, covers low-income individuals and families, seniors, children, and people with disabilities. It is among the largest components of the U.S. health care system. More information is available from the Commonwealth Fund.

Because Medicaid funding is sourced from taxpayers, fluctuations in local billing amounts help illustrate how public health care funding is distributed within a community.

The “Durable Medical Equipment” category includes Medicaid-billed services identified by standardized HCPCS and CPT code clusters. This analysis assigned each billing code to a specific service category using uniform code ranges and prefixes, grouping similar services together while avoiding double counting and maintaining accurate rankings over time.

Though overall Medicaid spending increased across several categories, Durable Medical Equipment ranked sixth by total Medicaid payments in Plains for 2024.

In 2024, Durable Medical Equipment was the ninth-highest category statewide in Montana by Medicaid payment totals.

Between 2019 and 2024, Medicaid payments linked to Durable Medical Equipment in Plains rose by $5,625, or 315.1%. Spending accelerated at certain points, with notable year-over-year increases observed in 2021 and 2022.

While Durable Medical Equipment-related Medicaid spending occurred throughout Plains, payment activity was concentrated in specific ZIP codes. In 2024, ZIP code 59859 registered $7,410—accounting for 100% of Medicaid payments connected to Durable Medical Equipment in Plains that year.

Most Medicaid payments for Durable Medical Equipment were focused within a small group of individual billing codes.

Comparatively, Medicaid payments for Durable Medical Equipment in Plains grew 268.3% from 2023 to 2024, while overall Medicaid claim categories in the city increased by 11.3% over the same period.

According to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, total Medicaid spending by federal and state governments was around $871.7 billion in fiscal year 2023. This represents about 18% of all national health care costs—a significant rise from $613.5 billion in 2019 before the COVID-19 pandemic.

This jump translates to nearly 40% growth in only a few years, mostly driven by expanded enrollment and increased utilization before, during, and after the pandemic.

Federal budget actions in recent years have brought substantial proposals to cut Medicaid funding and revise program policies. The “One Big Beautiful Bill Act,” signed into law in 2025, is expected to reduce federal Medicaid spending by more than $1 trillion over 10 years and sets out policies like work requirements and expanded cost-sharing. These measures may restrict benefits and shift financial responsibility to states, impacting funding and coverage for certain groups—even as Medicaid continues to serve millions nationwide.

Note: HCPCS codes are provided to illustrate the category. Category totals and rankings in this article use standardized service groupings rather than individual billing codes.

Information in this article was compiled from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Medicaid Provider Spending database. The original source data is available here.