In 2024, Medicaid providers in Washington reported $2,898,639 in charges for services described as Alcohol and Drug Abuse Treatment, data from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Medicaid Provider Spending database shows. This reflected a 4.8% rise over 2023, when providers billed $2,764,873 for these services.
Medicaid, a public insurance program operated by states and funded through joint federal and state contributions, serves low-income families and individuals, seniors, children, and people with disabilities. This positions it as a major component of the U.S. health care system.
Because Medicaid spending is sourced from taxpayers, changes in local claim patterns reflect how community public health funds are spent.
The “Alcohol and Drug Abuse Treatment” label covers a set of Medicaid-reimbursed services that are grouped by type using standard HCPCS and CPT coding. For this overview, each code was linked to one service category through consistent numeric ranges, ensuring related services were grouped, double counting was prevented, and year-on-year service category ranking integrity was maintained.
While spending increased across several Medicaid service types, Alcohol and Drug Abuse Treatment ranked as the second highest category for Medicaid payments in Washington in 2024.
Statewide, this category held the fourth position for total Medicaid payments in North Carolina in 2024.
Over the five years ending in 2024, Medicaid alcohol and drug abuse treatment payments in Washington grew by $75,607, or 2.5%. The pace of spending accelerated in particular stretches, with notable jumps in 2020 and 2021.
Though treatment-related payments were found citywide, the bulk of Medicaid reimbursements for alcohol and drug abuse care came from a small number of ZIP codes. For 2024, ZIP code 27889 alone saw payments totaling $2,898,638. Altogether, the top ZIP code represented 100% of Medicaid payments linked to Alcohol and Drug Abuse Treatment in Washington for the year.
Within this category, Medicaid reimbursements were focused on only a few billing codes.
To compare, between 2024 and 2023, Washington saw a 4.8% increase in Medicaid payments connected to Alcohol and Drug Abuse Treatment services, whereas all Medicaid claims in the city collectively rose 18.1% in the same period.
Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services data show combined state and federal Medicaid expenditures totaled roughly $871.7 billion for fiscal 2023, representing close to 18% of total U.S. health spending, and rising sharply from $613.5 billion in 2019 prior to the onset of COVID-19.
This jump amounts to around 40% growth over several years, with the main causes being increased enrollment and greater service use during and after the pandemic.
Recently passed federal budget legislation from the Trump administration introduced several major measures to lower federal Medicaid contributions and shift its structure. The “One Big Beautiful Bill Act,” enacted in 2025, is estimated to reduce federal Medicaid funding by over $1 trillion in the next 10 years. It also imposes new work requirements and higher cost-sharing, policies that may eventually curtail coverage and funding for affected enrollees. States are anticipated to shoulder more of the program’s costs as federal support growth tapers, despite Medicaid covering tens of millions of people.
| Year | Total Medicaid Payments | % Change From Previous Year |
|---|---|---|
| 2020 | $2,974,246 | 71% |
| 2021 | $3,685,307 | 23.9% |
| 2022 | $3,046,602 | -17.3% |
| 2023 | $2,764,872 | -9.2% |
| 2024 | $2,898,638 | 4.8% |
| Rank | Category | Medicaid Payments | Share of City Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Evaluation and Management | $4,018,726 | 27.7% |
| 2 | Alcohol and Drug Abuse Treatment | $2,898,638 | 2<0.1% |
| 3 | Temporary National Codes (Non-Medicare) | $2,497,814 | 17.2% |
| 4 | Medicine Services and Procedures | $1,863,895 | 12.9% |
| 5 | National Codes Established for State Medicaid Agencies | $1,521,552 | 10.5% |
| 6 | Ambulance and Other Transport Services and Supplies | $1,038,462 | 7.2% |
| 7 | Pathology and Laboratory Procedures | $481,412 | 3.3% |
| 8 | Dental Services | $65,040 | 0.4% |
| 9 | Surgery | $28,046 | 0.2% |
| 10 | Radiology Procedures | $27,221 | 0.2% |
| 11 | Procedures / Professional Services | $15,424 | 0.1% |
| 12 | Medical And Surgical Supplies | $11,134 | 0.1% |
| 13 | Temporary Codes | $7,494 | 0.1% |
| 14 | Drugs Administered Other than Oral Method | $3,466 | <0.1% |
| 15 | Vision Services | $2,953 | <0.1% |
| 16 | Durable Medical Equipment | $1,646 | <0.1% |
| 17 | Administrative, Miscellaneous and Investigational | $1 | <0.1% |
| HCPCS Code | Description | Medicaid Payments | Claims |
|---|---|---|---|
| H2022 | Com wrap-around sv, per diem | $1,716,978 | 11 |
| H2017 | Psysoc rehab svc, per 15 min | $980,613 | 10 |
| H0015 | Alcohol and/or drug services | $161,861 | 10 |
| H2015 | Comp comm supp svc, 15 min | $37,397 | 2 |
| H0038 | Self-help/peer svc per 15min | $1,789 | 2 |
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.
