In 2024, Medicaid providers in Valdosta submitted $511,883 in claims for Pathology and Laboratory Procedures, as reported by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Medicaid Provider Spending database. This amount reflects a 10.9% rise from 2023, when the total for these services was $461,568.
Medicaid, the public health insurance program managed by individual states and financed jointly by federal and state governments, provides coverage for low-income applicants, seniors, children, and people with disabilities. It constitutes one of the largest sectors within the U.S. health care system.
As Medicaid funding is derived from taxpayer dollars, trends in community-level billing reflect how public health care resources are distributed within an area.
The “Pathology and Laboratory Procedures” designation applies to a group of Medicaid services that are categorized by the nature of care, structured on standardized HCPCS and CPT code classifications. Each code for this review was grouped into a single service category using systematic code prefixes and numerical ranges, which allowed similar services to be analyzed together while preventing double counting and ensuring accuracy in rankings over time.
Though total Medicaid outlays increased across multiple categories, Pathology and Laboratory Procedures held the seventh position in Valdosta for total Medicaid payments during 2024.
At the state level, this category ranked fifth in Georgia based on total Medicaid payments in 2024.
From 2019 through 2024, Medicaid spending on Pathology and Laboratory Procedures in Valdosta rose by $2,519, or 0.5%. Periods with faster growth occurred, especially with notable yearly increases in 2023 and 2022.
Medicaid spending for these services was dispersed throughout Valdosta, but was concentrated in a small number of ZIP codes in 2024. The largest Medicaid expenditures for Pathology and Laboratory Procedures came from ZIP code 31602 with $473,161, followed by 31605 at $38,553, and 31601 with $167. These three ZIP codes made up 100% of Medicaid payments for the category in Valdosta for the year.
Within this group of services, most Medicaid payments were focused on a few key billing codes.
Medicaid claims for Pathology and Laboratory Procedures in Valdosta increased 10.9% from 2023 to 2024, compared with a 16.8% growth rate across all Medicaid claim categories in the area in the same interval.
According to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, total federal and state Medicaid spending reached approximately $871.7 billion in fiscal year 2023, representing about 18% of all national health care expenditures, which was a significant increase from $613.5 billion in 2019 before the COVID-19 pandemic.
This change represents growth of around 40% over several years, mostly attributed to higher enrollment and increased utilization during and following the pandemic.
Recent changes to the federal budget under the Trump administration have featured major proposals to decrease federal support for Medicaid and revise the program’s structure. Notably, the “One Big Beautiful Bill Act,” enacted in 2025, is expected to cut more than $1 trillion in federal Medicaid funding over the next decade and includes measures such as job requirements and greater cost-sharing. These provisions could reduce both Medicaid coverage and funding for some recipients, potentially shifting more costs onto states and restraining the rate of federal support growth, while the program continues to serve tens of millions of Americans.
| Year | Total Medicaid Payments | % Change From Previous Year |
|---|---|---|
| 2020 | $514,401 | -25.6% |
| 2021 | $487,541 | -5.2% |
| 2022 | $451,957 | -7.3% |
| 2023 | $461,568 | 2.1% |
| 2024 | $511,882 | 10.9% |
| Rank | Category | Medicaid Payments | Share of City Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | National Codes Established for State Medicaid Agencies | $32,603,349 | 70.3% |
| 2 | Temporary National Codes (Non-Medicare) | $4,736,268 | 10.2% |
| 3 | Alcohol and Drug Abuse Treatment | $3,493,027 | 7.5% |
| 4 | Medicine Services and Procedures | $1,977,429 | 4.3% |
| 5 | Evaluation and Management | $1,885,990 | 4.1% |
| 6 | Procedures / Professional Services | $683,223 | 1.5% |
| 7 | Pathology and Laboratory Procedures | $511,882 | 1.1% |
| 8 | Radiology Procedures | $353,643 | 0.8% |
| 9 | Temporary Codes | $65,370 | 0.1% |
| 10 | Surgery | $35,022 | 0.1% |
| 11 | Ambulance and Other Transport Services and Supplies | $20,085 | <0.1% |
| 12 | Medical And Surgical Supplies | $11,663 | <0.1% |
| 13 | Drugs Administered Other than Oral Method | $9,637 | <0.1% |
| 14 | Durable Medical Equipment | $146 | <0.1% |
| HCPCS Code | Description | Medicaid Payments | Claims |
|---|---|---|---|
| 87637 | Sarscov2&inf a&b&rsv amp prb | $83,019 | 8 |
| 87633 | Resp virus 12-25 targets | $69,710 | 9 |
| 87507 | Iadna-dna/rna probe tq 12-25 | $58,581 | 8 |
| 80307 | Drug test prsmv chem anlyzr | $40,800 | 23 |
| 87428 | Sarscov & inf vir a&b ag ia | $30,262 | 9 |
| 87635 | Sars-cov-2 covid-19 amp prb | $24,730 | 9 |
| 85025 | Complete cbc w/auto diff wbc | $18,787 | 36 |
| 88305 | Tissue exam by pathologist | $13,447 | 6 |
| 80053 | Comprehen metabolic panel | $12,634 | 16 |
| 84443 | Assay thyroid stim hormone | $12,340 | 12 |
| 87491 | Chlmyd trach dna amp probe | $11,999 | 9 |
| 87486 | Chlmyd pneum dna amp probe | $10,374 | 9 |
| 87591 | N.gonorrhoeae dna amp prob | $10,337 | 9 |
| 87581 | M.pneumon dna amp probe | $9,792 | 9 |
| 82306 | Vitamin d 25 hydroxy | $7,980 | 11 |
| 80048 | Basic metabolic pnl total ca | $7,749 | 9 |
| 87088 | Urine bacteria culture | $6,461 | 9 |
| 80061 | Lipid panel | $5,491 | 11 |
| 82607 | Vitamin b-12 | $5,036 | 11 |
| 82728 | Assay of ferritin | $4,898 | 21 |
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.
