Kinston Medicaid billings for national care codes rise to $9.3 million in 2024

In 2024, Medicaid providers in Kinston billed $9,315,657 for services grouped under the National Codes Established for State Medicaid Agencies category, as reported by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Medicaid Provider Spending database. That figure represents a 71.9% increase from 2023, when providers billed $5,418,359 for the same type of services.

Medicaid is a joint state- and federal-funded public health insurance program that covers individuals and families with low incomes, as well as seniors, children and people with disabilities. This makes Medicaid a major component of the U.S. health care system. See more about its financing from the Commonwealth Fund.

Since Medicaid funding originates from taxpayers, shifts in billing activity reflect patterns in how local health resources are used in the community.

The National Codes Established for State Medicaid Agencies category includes a specific set of services, classified by types of care and based on distinct HCPCS and CPT code groupings. According to this analysis, each code was placed in a single service category using standardized prefixes and number ranges, helping analyze related services collectively while avoiding duplication and supporting reliable rankings across years.

National Codes Established for State Medicaid Agencies was the second largest category for Medicaid spending in Kinston in 2024, outpaced by only one other major service type.

Statewide in North Carolina, however, the National Codes Established for State Medicaid Agencies led all categories in overall Medicaid payments during 2024.

From 2019 through 2024, Medicaid payments connected to this category in Kinston grew by $5,856,544, or 169.3%. Specific years, notably 2023 and 2022, registered marked year-over-year increases as growth accelerated.

Payments in the National Codes Established for State Medicaid Agencies category spanned Kinston, but most spending localized in several ZIP codes. In 2024, the ZIP codes 28504, 28501, and 28503 accounted for all Medicaid payments in this category in the city, with 28504 recording $6,368,272, 28501 at $1,743,323, and 28503 with $1,204,060.

Spending in the category was also concentrated within a small segment of individual billing codes.

To give additional perspective, Medicaid billings for the National Codes Established for State Medicaid Agencies category in Kinston rose 71.9% between 2024 and 2023, while all city Medicaid claims collectively showed a 3.9% increase over this span.

According to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, combined state and federal Medicaid spending reached roughly $871.7 billion in fiscal 2023, representing about 18% of total U.S. health care expenditures, sharply higher than the approximate $613.5 billion tally in 2019, before the COVID-19 pandemic.

This represents an increase of about 40% in just a few years, reflecting greater enrollment and increased use of services during and after the pandemic.

Recent federal budget actions during the Trump administration implemented major proposals to reduce federal Medicaid allocations and change the program’s structure. For instance, the “One Big Beautiful Bill Act,” enacted in 2025, is projected to cut over $1 trillion in federal Medicaid dollars in the coming decade, with additional changes such as work requirements and higher cost sharing that may affect coverage and shift more costs to states.

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.