In 2024, Medicaid providers in Philadelphia submitted $42,931,580 in claims for services listed under the Ambulance and Other Transport Services and Supplies category, according to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Medicaid Provider Spending data. This represented a 13.6% rise from 2023, when $37,792,322 was billed for the same services.
Medicaid, a public health insurance program administered by states and jointly financed by federal and state governments, provides coverage for low-income individuals, families, seniors, children, and people with disabilities. It remains one of the largest components of health care in the U.S.
Since Medicaid payments are funded by taxpayers, trends in local billing highlight how public health care expenditures are distributed throughout a community.
The “Ambulance and Other Transport Services and Supplies” category encompasses Medicaid-billed services grouped by the type of care, based on standardized HCPCS and CPT codes. For this report, each billing code was assigned to one service category using set code prefixes and number ranges, enabling related services to be analyzed together, avoiding duplication, and maintaining accurate multi-year comparisons.
Spending on Ambulance and Other Transport Services and Supplies was one of several service categories that saw growth, ranking as the fifth-largest Medicaid payment category in Philadelphia in 2024.
Statewide in Pennsylvania, this service category ranked sixth in total Medicaid payments for 2024.
During the five years preceding 2024, Medicaid payments in Philadelphia related to Ambulance and Other Transport Services and Supplies grew by $38,780,610, or 934.3%. Certain years, including 2020 and 2021, experienced particularly significant increases.
Though payments in this category were disbursed across the city, the majority were focused in a small number of ZIP codes. In 2024, ZIP code 19123 saw $40,421,386 in payments, 19137 received $863,785, and 19124 had $657,962. Combined, these top 3 ZIP codes comprised 97.7% of all Medicaid payments for the category in Philadelphia that year.
Within the category, most Medicaid payments were concentrated among a few individual billing codes.
Medicaid payments for Ambulance and Other Transport Services and Supplies in Philadelphia grew by 13.6% between 2024 and 2023. By comparison, all Medicaid claim categories combined increased 1.7% in the city over the same span.
According to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, federal and state Medicaid expenditures totaled around $871.7 billion for fiscal year 2023, making up roughly 18% of all U.S. health spending, and reflecting a jump from $613.5 billion in 2019, before the COVID-19 pandemic.
This growth equates to about a 40% increase over just a few years, largely driven by expanded enrollment and greater health care use during and after the pandemic.
Recent federal budget measures enacted under the Trump administration have included proposals to significantly reduce federal Medicaid funding and change the program’s structure. For example, the “One Big Beautiful Bill Act,” signed into law in 2025, is expected to lower federal Medicaid spending by more than $1 trillion over the coming decade. The law also features policies such as work requirements and increased cost-sharing, which could decrease coverage and funding for certain beneficiaries. As a result, states are anticipated to take on additional costs while the growth of federal Medicaid support slows, even as the program continues serving tens of millions of people across the country.
| Year | Total Medicaid Payments | % Change From Previous Year |
|---|---|---|
| 2020 | $4,150,969 | 541% |
| 2021 | $15,797,827 | 280.6% |
| 2022 | $16,267,294 | 3% |
| 2023 | $37,792,321 | 132.3% |
| 2024 | $42,931,579 | 13.6% |
| Rank | Category | Medicaid Payments | Share of City Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Alcohol and Drug Abuse Treatment | $283,847,187 | 25.5% |
| 2 | National Codes Established for State Medicaid Agencies | $250,132,374 | 22.4% |
| 3 | Evaluation and Management | $204,490,831 | 18.3% |
| 4 | Medicine Services and Procedures | $174,849,023 | 15.7% |
| 5 | Ambulance and Other Transport Services and Supplies | $42,931,579 | 3.9% |
| 6 | Procedures / Professional Services | $41,047,678 | 3.7% |
| 7 | Temporary National Codes (Non-Medicare) | $32,046,714 | 2.9% |
| 8 | Radiology Procedures | $21,470,349 | 1.9% |
| 9 | Surgery | $14,269,968 | 1.3% |
| 10 | Dental Services | $12,076,643 | 1.1% |
| 11 | Enteral and Parenteral Therapy | $10,531,030 | 0.9% |
| 12 | Medical And Surgical Supplies | $8,743,191 | 0.8% |
| 13 | Vision Services | $6,205,354 | 0.6% |
| 14 | Pathology and Laboratory Procedures | $4,834,779 | 0.4% |
| 15 | Durable Medical Equipment | $2,552,193 | 0.2% |
| 16 | Orthotic Procedures and services | $1,409,979 | 0.1% |
| 17 | Drugs Administered Other than Oral Method | $1,252,186 | 0.1% |
| 18 | Anesthesia | $1,042,713 | 0.1% |
| 19 | Pathology and Laboratory Services | $511,961 | <0.1% |
| 20 | Durable medical equipment (DME) Medicare administrative contractors (MACs) | $176,302 | <0.1% |
| 21 | Temporary Codes | $85,005 | <0.1% |
| 22 | Prosthetic Procedures | $70,315 | <0.1% |
| 23 | Diagnostic Radiology Services | $65,918 | <0.1% |
| 24 | Outpatient PPS | $58,852 | <0.1% |
| 25 | Administrative, Miscellaneous and Investigational | $24,285 | <0.1% |
| 26 | Chemotherapy Drugs | $2,833 | <0.1% |
| HCPCS Code | Description | Medicaid Payments | Claims |
|---|---|---|---|
| A0429 | Bls-emergency | $30,313,831 | 72 |
| A0427 | Als1-emergency | $9,513,708 | 43 |
| A0425 | Ground mileage | $1,346,121 | 104 |
| A0428 | Bls | $1,023,942 | 45 |
| A0431 | Rotary wing air transport | $264,922 | 3 |
| A0433 | Als 2 | $192,250 | 11 |
| A0170 | Transport parking fees/tolls | $109,177 | 10 |
| A0434 | Specialty care transport | $96,922 | 7 |
| A0426 | Als 1 | $43,940 | 9 |
| A0436 | Rotary wing air mileage | $26,762 | 3 |
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.
