In 2024, Medicaid providers in Winnemucca received $354,282 for services in the Pathology and Laboratory Procedures category, according to reporting from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Medicaid Provider Spending database. This total represents a 639% increase from 2023, when $47,940 in claims for the same services were submitted by providers.
Medicaid is a government health insurance program operated by individual states and funded through a partnership between federal and state governments. It offers coverage to eligible low-income individuals and families, older adults, children, and individuals with disabilities; it is one of the largest programs within the U.S. health care system.
Because Medicaid dollars are funded by taxpayers, changes in community-level billing reflect how public health funds are distributed locally.
The “Pathology and Laboratory Procedures” category includes services grouped by type, aggregated for Medicaid billing based on standardized HCPCS and CPT code clusters. In this review, each billing code was matched to a single care category using consistent code prefixes and ranges, which enabled analysis of themed service spending without duplication and allowed for reliable category rankings over time.
Despite growth in various other categories of Medicaid spending, Pathology and Laboratory Procedures ranked as the fourth-largest category by total Medicaid payments in Winnemucca in 2024.
At the state level, Pathology and Laboratory Procedures was the eighth largest category by Medicaid payments in Nevada for 2024.
Over the five years leading up to 2024, total Medicaid payments associated with Pathology and Laboratory Procedures in Winnemucca grew by $314,373—an increase of 787.7%. Growth rates accelerated at certain points, with significant year-on-year increases observed in 2020 and 2021.
The distribution of payments in the Pathology and Laboratory Procedures category extended across the city; however, the majority of funds were concentrated in selected ZIP codes. In 2024, ZIP code 89445 received $354,281 in Medicaid payments for this category, making up 100% of all local Medicaid spending for Pathology and Laboratory Procedures that year.
Within the broader category, Medicaid spending was most pronounced among a select few billing codes.
Comparing 2024 to 2023, Medicaid payments for Pathology and Laboratory Procedures in Winnemucca surged by 639%. By contrast, aggregate Medicaid payments for all claim categories citywide changed by 68.5% in the same timeframe.
According to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, Medicaid expenditures from federal and state budgets totaled roughly $871.7 billion in fiscal year 2023, representing about 18% of all U.S. national health care expenditures. This was up from the approximately $613.5 billion recorded in 2019, prior to the COVID-19 pandemic.
This nationwide growth equates to an increase of about 40% over a short span, primarily attributed to enrollment growth and increased demand for services during and after the pandemic period.
Federal budget laws introduced during President Trump’s administration included major proposals intending to reduce overall federal Medicaid contributions and modify program structure. For example, the “One Big Beautiful Bill Act,” enacted in 2025, is projected to decrease federal Medicaid spending by more than $1 trillion over 10 years and brings adjustments—such as new work requirements and higher cost-sharing—that may reduce enrollment and federal funds for some recipients. These measures are anticipated to shift a greater share of funding responsibilities to states and may restrain overall federal Medicaid program growth while it continues supporting millions.
| Year | Total Medicaid Payments | % Change From Previous Year |
|---|---|---|
| 2020 | $39,908 | 34% |
| 2021 | $44,558 | 11.7% |
| 2022 | $46,785 | 5% |
| 2023 | $47,940 | 2.5% |
| 2024 | $354,281 | 639% |
| Rank | Category | Medicaid Payments | Share of City Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Evaluation and Management | $1,375,611 | 33.7% |
| 2 | National Codes Established for State Medicaid Agencies | $1,037,931 | 25.5% |
| 3 | Radiology Procedures | $665,910 | 16.3% |
| 4 | Pathology and Laboratory Procedures | $354,281 | 8.7% |
| 5 | Medicine Services and Procedures | $321,208 | 7.9% |
| 6 | Procedures / Professional Services | $117,314 | 2.9% |
| 7 | Ambulance and Other Transport Services and Supplies | $104,302 | 2.6% |
| 8 | Vision Services | $49,180 | 1.2% |
| 9 | Alcohol and Drug Abuse Treatment | $20,569 | 0.5% |
| 10 | Durable Medical Equipment | $20,276 | 0.5% |
| 11 | Surgery | $6,478 | 0.2% |
| 12 | Temporary Codes | $4,678 | 0.1% |
| 13 | Drugs Administered Other than Oral Method | $85 | <0.1% |
| 14 | Medical And Surgical Supplies | $0 | <0.1% |
| HCPCS Code | Description | Medicaid Payments | Claims |
|---|---|---|---|
| 87591 | N.gonorrhoeae dna amp prob | $67,204 | 11 |
| 80053 | Comprehen metabolic panel | $64,962 | 12 |
| 86703 | Hiv-1/hiv-2 1 result antbdy | $37,498 | 7 |
| 82306 | Vitamin d 25 hydroxy | $34,531 | 11 |
| 80050 | General health panel | $33,804 | 5 |
| 87811 | Sars-cov-2 covid19 w/optic | $16,043 | 10 |
| 80061 | Lipid panel | $15,174 | 12 |
| 87086 | Urine culture/colony count | $14,826 | 11 |
| 85025 | Complete cbc w/auto diff wbc | $12,667 | 12 |
| 84702 | Chorionic gonadotropin test | $10,411 | 11 |
| 80307 | Drug test prsmv chem anlyzr | $7,812 | 10 |
| 80048 | Basic metabolic pnl total ca | $5,125 | 12 |
| 83880 | Assay of natriuretic peptide | $4,330 | 4 |
| 87635 | Sars-cov-2 covid-19 amp prb | $3,837 | 11 |
| 84443 | Assay thyroid stim hormone | $3,329 | 11 |
| 81000 | Urinalysis nonauto w/scope | $3,158 | 11 |
| 81002 | Urinalysis nonauto w/o scope | $2,679 | 11 |
| 83540 | Assay of iron | $2,293 | 5 |
| 80076 | Hepatic function panel | $1,987 | 5 |
| 87804 | Influenza assay w/optic | $1,932 | 14 |
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.
