Providers in Puyallup billed Medicaid for $3,755,309 in Alcohol and Drug Abuse Treatment services in 2024, according to data from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Medicaid Provider Spending database. That figure is a 14.8% jump versus 2023, when $3,270,974 was billed for the same service category.
Medicaid is a public insurance program managed by the states and supported through both federal and state funding. It serves low-income families and individuals, older adults, children, and people with disabilities, ranking among the largest components of the U.S. health system.
Because Medicaid funding is derived from taxpayer dollars, shifts in community billing levels track how public health care resources are distributed locally.
The “Alcohol and Drug Abuse Treatment” service category includes a set of Medicaid-billed services grouped by care type, based on standardized HCPCS and CPT code categories. For this analysis, individual billing codes were assigned to a category by using consistent numeric ranges and code prefixes. This approach enables related services to be evaluated as a group, prevents double counting, and helps maintain accurate rankings over time.
While Medicaid spending increased across numerous categories, Alcohol and Drug Abuse Treatment ranked third in total Medicaid payments for Puyallup in 2024.
Statewide in Washington, the Alcohol and Drug Abuse Treatment category was fourth by total Medicaid payments in 2024.
During the five years ending in 2024, Medicaid payments for the Alcohol and Drug Abuse Treatment category in Puyallup rose by $533,496, or 12.4%. Periods of faster growth included year-over-year jumps in 2020 and 2023.
Despite spending being distributed citywide, most Medicaid payments for Alcohol and Drug Abuse Treatment went to a small number of ZIP codes. In 2024, ZIP code 98372 totaled $3,754,957, and ZIP code 98373 accounted for $352. Combined, these 2 ZIP codes made up 100% of Medicaid payments for this category in Puyallup for the year.
A limited set of billing codes accounted for most Medicaid payments related to Alcohol and Drug Abuse Treatment.
Comparatively, Medicaid payments in Puyallup tied to Alcohol and Drug Abuse Treatment were up 14.8% from 2023 to 2024, while all Medicaid claim categories in the city rose 4.2% in the same period.
According to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, federal and state Medicaid spending reached about $871.7 billion in fiscal 2023, making up around 18% of total U.S. health expenditures, a significant increase from $613.5 billion in 2019 prior to the COVID-19 pandemic.
This growth amounts to an approximate 40% increase over a few years, largely attributed to expanded enrollment and higher health care usage during and after the pandemic.
Recent federal budgets under the Trump administration introduced major proposals to scale back federal Medicaid spending and make structural changes to the program. The “One Big Beautiful Bill Act,” signed in 2025, is estimated to cut more than $1 trillion from federal Medicaid funding over the next 10 years. It also adds new requirements such as work stipulations and higher cost-sharing, which could decrease coverage and funding for certain beneficiaries. These shifts are expected to increase state financial responsibility and restrict the pace of federal Medicaid growth, while the program continues serving tens of millions.
| Year | Total Medicaid Payments | % Change From Previous Year |
|---|---|---|
| 2020 | $4,288,804 | 22.4% |
| 2021 | $3,289,433 | -23.3% |
| 2022 | $2,845,093 | -13.5% |
| 2023 | $3,270,974 | 15% |
| 2024 | $3,755,309 | 14.8% |
| Rank | Category | Medicaid Payments | Share of City Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Medicine Services and Procedures | $11,593,841 | 36.4% |
| 2 | Evaluation and Management | $10,887,877 | 34.2% |
| 3 | Alcohol and Drug Abuse Treatment | $3,755,309 | 11.8% |
| 4 | Radiology Procedures | $2,221,436 | 7% |
| 5 | Dental Services | $999,286 | 3.1% |
| 6 | Surgery | $821,893 | 2.6% |
| 7 | National Codes Established for State Medicaid Agencies | $585,957 | 1.8% |
| 8 | Pathology and Laboratory Procedures | $286,954 | 0.9% |
| 9 | Procedures / Professional Services | $230,914 | 0.7% |
| 10 | Medical And Surgical Supplies | $216,755 | 0.7% |
| 11 | Durable Medical Equipment | $131,540 | 0.4% |
| 12 | Drugs Administered Other than Oral Method | $79,375 | 0.2% |
| 13 | Administrative, Miscellaneous and Investigational | $6,363 | <0.1% |
| 14 | Pathology and Laboratory Services | $3,018 | <0.1% |
| 15 | Outpatient PPS | $2,022 | <0.1% |
| 16 | Temporary Codes | $300 | <0.1% |
| HCPCS Code | Description | Medicaid Payments | Claims |
|---|---|---|---|
| H0004 | Alcohol and/or drug services | $2,628,993 | 267 |
| H0038 | Self-help/peer svc per 15min | $740,740 | 49 |
| H0001 | Alcohol and/or drug assess | $271,731 | 21 |
| H2015 | Comp comm supp svc, 15 min | $70,847 | 23 |
| H0043 | Supported housing, per diem | $42,112 | 6 |
| H0023 | Alcohol and/or drug outreach | $510 | 1 |
| H0046 | Mental health service, nos | $352 | 10 |
| H0033 | Oral med adm direct observe | $21 | 19 |
| H0019 | Alcohol and/or drug services | $0 | 11 |
| H0018 | Alcohol and/or drug services | $0 | 1 |
| H2011 | Crisis interven svc, 15 min | $0 | 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.
