Dayton Medicaid billing for COVID-19 services reached $23,736 in 2024

Medicaid payments for COVID-19–specific services reached at least $23,736 in Dayton in 2024, per figures from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Medicaid Provider Spending database.

Medicaid operates as a state-run health insurance program, funded collaboratively by federal and state governments. The program is a critical part of the U.S. health care system, providing coverage for low-income people, families, seniors, children, and individuals with disabilities.

Because public funds support Medicaid, local billing trends reflect community-level allocation of taxpayer-supported health care resources.

For the purposes of this report, COVID-19–related claims were identified through HCPCS codes flagged as “COVID-19” or “coronavirus”-linked in their billing data or reference descriptions. Thus, these amounts are limited to services distinctly coded as COVID-related and may not include broader pandemic impacts billed under different classifications.

As a comparison point, Spring Hill saw the highest Medicaid claims for COVID-19 services in Tennessee in 2024, tallying $4,274,403 in virus-related charges.

Two providers in Dayton submitted Medicaid claims for pandemic-related services in 2024. The code with the highest billing, COVID Specific, amounted to $23,531.

By provider, the average Medicaid reimbursement for COVID-19–coded services in Dayton was $11,868, notably below the Tennessee statewide average of $43,799.

The demand for COVID-specific services contributed substantially to Medicaid expenditure increases in Dayton during the pandemic period.

Total Medicaid reimbursements for all remaining claim types rose by $714,712 from 2020 through 2024, a jump of 36.3%.

During the two years before the pandemic, Dayton’s average annual Medicaid payments were $1,917,257.

Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services data show that federal and state Medicaid spending totaled roughly $871.7 billion in fiscal year 2023, comprising about 18% of total U.S. health spending. That represents sharp growth from $613.5 billion in 2019, before the COVID-19 crisis.

This marks an estimated 40% rise within a few years, largely attributed to increased enrollment and use during the pandemic and its aftermath.

Recent federal budget laws enacted during the Trump administration have called for major changes to Medicaid funding at the federal level. The “One Big Beautiful Bill Act,” enacted in 2025, is expected to trim more than $1 trillion in federal Medicaid expenditures over the next decade, introducing work requirements and greater cost-sharing that may limit coverage and federal support for some recipients. These updates are set to transfer more responsibility to states and restrict federal Medicaid expansion, even as enrollment remains high for millions of Americans.

Note: Only COVID-19–specific HCPCS codes are included; these totals do not account for all health care spending tied to the pandemic.

Information for this story was sourced from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Medicaid Provider Spending database. Full data is available here.