Ambulance and transport Medicaid payments in Wildwood grow 43.7% to $189,201 in 2024

Wildwood Medicaid providers billed $189,201 in 2024 for services grouped under Ambulance and Other Transport Services and Supplies, according to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Medicaid Provider Spending database. The amount represents a 43.7% rise from the $131,703 billed in 2023 for the same category.

Medicaid, a joint federal-state public health insurance program, is funded by both the federal government and individual states, according to the Commonwealth Fund. The program provides health coverage for low-income residents, seniors, children, and people with disabilities and is among the largest components of the national health care system.

Because taxpayer contributions fund Medicaid payments, changes in the amount billed locally show how public health spending is distributed throughout the community.

The “Ambulance and Other Transport Services and Supplies” group includes Medicaid-billed services defined by types of care, based on standardized HCPCS and CPT code groupings. Analysts assigned each billing code to a single category using consistent prefixes and numeric ranges. This methodology enables accurate year-to-year comparisons, avoids double counting, and allows for service groupings to be ranked clearly.

Ambulance and Other Transport Services and Supplies ranked as the top Medicaid payment category in Wildwood by total value for 2024. Medicaid spending increases occurred across several groups, but this category received the highest payments locally.

Statewide in Florida, this service category was seventh by total Medicaid payments in 2024.

In the five years ending in 2024, Medicaid payments for Ambulance and Other Transport Services and Supplies in Wildwood rose by $189,201, or 0%. Growth rates accelerated at different points, with significant gains reported year-over-year in 2023 and 2022.

Service-related Medicaid payments under Ambulance and Other Transport Services and Supplies were distributed across the city, though most were concentrated in a few ZIP codes. In 2024, ZIP code 34785 saw the highest payments, at $189,200, accounting for 100% of Wildwood’s Medicaid payments in this category for the year.

Most Medicaid spending in this category went toward a small subset of billing codes.

Between 2023 and 2024, Medicaid payments for this category in Wildwood rose 43.7%, compared with a 12.2% increase across all claim categories citywide during the same period.

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services reported federal and state Medicaid spending at about $871.7 billion for fiscal year 2023, making up roughly 18% of total national health care spending—a significant increase from $613.5 billion in 2019, prior to the COVID-19 pandemic.

This jump reflects growth of close to 40% over just a few years, with much of it attributed to expanded enrollment and increased use during and following the pandemic.

Recent legislation passed during the Trump administration has included major proposals to reduce federal Medicaid spending and revise how the program operates. Measures in the “One Big Beautiful Bill Act,” enacted in 2025, are projected to cut over $1 trillion in federal Medicaid funding over the next decade. The law introduces work requirements and higher cost-sharing, policies that may decrease coverage and available funding for some recipients. This move is expected to transfer a greater financial burden to states, potentially slowing federal Medicaid growth while the program continues 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 sourced from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Medicaid Provider Spending database. Find the original data here.