South Pittsburg Medicaid payments for pathology and lab services climb to $63,215 in 2024

Providers in South Pittsburg billed $63,215 to Medicaid for Pathology and Laboratory Procedures in 2024, according to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Medicaid Provider Spending database. This represents a 3.9% rise compared to 2023, when billings for these services totaled $60,821.

Medicaid, which is managed by each state and funded through federal and state contributions, provides health insurance for low-income people, seniors, children, and individuals with disabilities, making it a core part of the nation’s health system.

Because Medicaid draws on taxpayer dollars, changes in local spending highlight how public health funds are used within a community.

The Pathology and Laboratory Procedures category includes various Medicaid services determined by service type and grouped under standardized HCPCS and CPT coding. In this assessment, each code was linked to a single service group by code prefix and numerical range so that related services could be grouped for review, preventing double-counts while maintaining accurate comparisons over time.

Pathology and Laboratory Procedures held the third-largest share of Medicaid spending in South Pittsburg across all service categories in 2024 as spending increased across multiple groups.

On a statewide level, this category ranked sixth in Tennessee for total Medicaid payments in 2024.

Between 2019 and 2024, Medicaid payments for Pathology and Laboratory Procedures in South Pittsburg jumped by $43,654, or 223.2%. Growth intensified in certain years, registering especially significant annual increases in 2021 and 2022.

Spending in this category was spread throughout South Pittsburg, yet most payments were concentrated within a small number of ZIP codes. The 37380 ZIP code alone accounted for $63,214 in 2024 Medicaid payments for these services, making up 100% of local Medicaid spending in the category for the year.

Within Pathology and Laboratory Procedures, Medicaid reimbursements were focused among a limited set of specific billing codes.

Comparatively, Medicaid spending in the Pathology and Laboratory Procedures category in South Pittsburg rose 3.9% between 2024 and 2023, while all Medicaid service categories citywide saw a 29.3% change in the corresponding period.

According to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, total federal and state Medicaid expenditures reached approximately $871.7 billion in fiscal 2023, amounting to about 18% of nationwide health costs and rising sharply since $613.5 billion in 2019, prior to the COVID-19 pandemic.

This increase amounts to nearly 40% over several years, influenced largely by increased enrollment and higher utilization throughout and in the aftermath of the pandemic.

Recent federal budget actions during the Trump administration have featured significant proposals for federal Medicaid spending reductions and program restructuring. The “One Big Beautiful Bill Act,” enacted in 2025, is expected to trim over $1 trillion in federal Medicaid spending over the next decade, adding policies like work requirements and higher cost-sharing that may lower coverage and funding for some recipients. These reforms are anticipated to shift more spending to states and slow the growth of federal support for Medicaid, while the program remains a safety net for tens of millions nationwide.

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.