Macon sees 475% rise in Medicaid spending for surgery services in 2024

In 2024, Medicaid providers in Macon billed $36,351 for surgery-related services, as reported in the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Medicaid Provider Spending database. This represents a 475% surge from 2023, when providers claimed $6,322 for the same group of services.

Medicaid is a public health insurance initiative managed by individual states and funded through federal and state contributions. Covering low-income populations, older adults, children, and individuals with disabilities, Medicaid remains a cornerstone of U.S. health care.

Since Medicaid relies on taxpayer funding, changes in local claiming patterns reflect how medical dollars are distributed in a specific area.

The “Surgery” category captures a wide range of Medicaid-billed services as determined by the nature of care and established HCPCS and CPT billing code ranges. For this review, each code was grouped into one service line using steady prefix and number assignments, ensuring services do not overlap and accurate rankings are maintained year over year.

Although spending rose for multiple Medicaid categories, surgery ranked fifth in total Medicaid payments in Macon in 2024.

Statewide, in Mississippi, the surgery category was ninth in total Medicaid payments in 2024.

During the five years through 2024, Medicaid payments linked to surgery in Macon grew by $30,898, or 566.7%. The pace of growth fluctuated, with the strongest year-over-year jumps taking place in 2023 and 2021.

While surgery payments were made throughout Macon, the spending was limited to a small number of ZIP codes. For 2024, ZIP code 39341 accounted for $36,350, making up 100% of all Medicaid payments tied to surgery in Macon that year.

Within the surgery service group, only a select set of billing codes made up most Medicaid spending.

Comparatively, the 475% Medicaid spending increase for surgery in Macon between 2023 and 2024 contrasts with an overall 23.1% growth across all Medicaid claim types in the city for the same timeframe.

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services reports that federal and state Medicaid expenditures reached about $871.7 billion for fiscal year 2023, which was roughly 18% of all U.S. health spending, sharply rising from approximately $613.5 billion in 2019, before the pandemic.

This rise accounts for growth of about 40% in just a few years, largely fueled by broader program enrollment and elevated usage during and after the pandemic period.

Major federal budget measures under the Trump administration have included plans to cut federal Medicaid financing and revise how the program operates. The “One Big Beautiful Bill Act,” enacted in 2025, is expected to slash over $1 trillion from federal Medicaid budgets in the coming decade and place greater cost-sharing and work requirements on beneficiaries, potentially curbing coverage for some groups. The policy is projected to transfer more Medicaid costs to state governments and cap federal support, even as millions continue to rely on Medicaid coverage.

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.