Ely Medicaid bills for pathology and lab services jump to $257,429 in 2024

Ely Medicaid providers billed $257,429 for services in the Pathology and Laboratory Procedures category in 2024, data from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Medicaid Provider Spending database shows. This total represents a 585.5% increase compared to 2023, when providers submitted $37,552 in claims for the same services.

Medicaid, a public health insurance program operated by states and funded by both federal and state governments, covers low-income people and families, seniors, children, and those with disabilities. It is among the largest parts of the U.S. health care system.

With Medicaid funded by taxpayers, shifts in local billing help reveal how community health care dollars are distributed.

The Pathology and Laboratory Procedures category includes a defined range of Medicaid-billed services based on standardized HCPCS and CPT code groupings. For this report, each billing code was assigned to one service category using set code prefixes and number ranges, so similar services could be tracked while preventing overlap and maintaining accurate rankings year over year.

Despite growth across various Medicaid service types, Pathology and Laboratory Procedures was Ely’s third-largest service category by payments in 2024.

On a statewide basis, Pathology and Laboratory Procedures ranked eighth in Nevada for overall Medicaid payments in 2024.

In the five years preceding 2024, Ely’s Medicaid payments related to Pathology and Laboratory Procedures rose by $194,643, or 310%. Growth accelerated during some periods, with significant rises seen in both 2020 and 2021.

Payments in this category were spread throughout Ely, but a few ZIP codes received the bulk of Medicaid dollars. In 2024, ZIP code 89301 accounted for all Pathology and Laboratory Procedures Medicaid payments in the city, totaling $257,429. Altogether, the top 1 ZIP codes made up 100% of Ely’s Medicaid spending in this service area for the year.

Most Medicaid payments in the Pathology and Laboratory Procedures category were tied to a select few individual billing codes.

Between 2024 and 2023, Ely’s Medicaid payments for Pathology and Laboratory Procedures grew by 585.5%, whereas payments across all categories citywide climbed 38.9% in the same period.

According to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, total federal and state Medicaid expenditures reached about $871.7 billion in fiscal year 2023, or roughly 18% of total U.S. health spending—an increase from $613.5 billion in 2019, prior to the COVID-19 pandemic.

This rise amounts to growth of about 40% over a few years, attributed in large part to expanded enrollment and higher service utilization during and after the pandemic.

Recent federal budget laws passed during the Trump administration feature major proposals to reduce federal Medicaid funding and reorganize the program. The “One Big Beautiful Bill Act,” enacted in 2025, aims to cut more than $1 trillion in federal Medicaid spending over the next 10 years and introduces requirements such as work mandates and increased cost-sharing, moves projected to lower coverage and funding for some enrollees. These policies are expected to increase states’ share of costs and limit the expansion of federal Medicaid funds, despite the program continuing to cover tens of millions of Americans.

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.