Tacoma Medicaid spending on alcohol and drug abuse treatment reaches $18.6 million in 2024

In 2024, Tacoma Medicaid providers billed $18,559,962 for services classified under the Alcohol and Drug Abuse Treatment category, according to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Medicaid Provider Spending database. This represented a 24.2% increase from 2023, when the total for these claims was $14,946,945.

Medicaid, a public health insurance program operated by the states and funded with state and federal support, covers individuals and families with low incomes, as well as seniors, children, and people with disabilities. It remains one of the nation’s largest health care programs.

Since Medicaid payments come from taxpayers, shifts in local billing amounts reflect how healthcare funds are distributed within a community.

The “Alcohol and Drug Abuse Treatment” category comprises Medicaid-billed services identified by care type, based on standardized HCPCS and CPT code groupings. Service codes for this analysis were assigned to a single category using consistent code prefixes and numeric ranges, which enabled a clearer analysis of trends by grouping related services together, while avoiding double counting and ensuring accuracy over time.

While Medicaid expenditures rose across multiple categories, Alcohol and Drug Abuse Treatment was the fifth-largest category in Tacoma by total Medicaid payments in 2024.

At the state level, the Alcohol and Drug Abuse Treatment category ranked fourth by Medicaid payments in Washington in 2024.

Between 2019 and 2024, Tacoma Medicaid payments for the Alcohol and Drug Abuse Treatment category increased by $3,450,433, or 22.8%. Some years saw particularly strong growth, with significant increases in 2021 and 2023.

Although this spending was distributed citywide, most Medicaid payments for Alcohol and Drug Abuse Treatment were concentrated in select ZIP codes. In 2024, ZIP code 98402 accounted for $7,095,207, ZIP code 98446 had $3,488,086, and ZIP code 98405 totaled $3,224,391. These top 3 ZIP codes made up 74.4% of all Medicaid payments linked to Alcohol and Drug Abuse Treatment in Tacoma for the year.

Within the Alcohol and Drug Abuse Treatment category, a small set of billing codes accounted for the majority of Medicaid payments.

Comparatively, Medicaid spending in Tacoma for Alcohol and Drug Abuse Treatment jumped 24.2% between 2024 and 2023, outpacing the 1.1% change recorded across all Medicaid claim categories in the city during the same timeframe.

According to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, federal and state Medicaid spending totaled approximately $871.7 billion in fiscal 2023—about 18% of national health expenditures—up from roughly $613.5 billion in 2019 before the COVID-19 pandemic.

This jump represents a growth of nearly 40% over a few years, largely attributable to expanded enrollment and increased use during and after the pandemic.

Major federal budget measures under the Trump administration have proposed extensive cuts to federal Medicaid funding and new program structures. The “One Big Beautiful Bill Act,” signed into law in 2025, is projected to reduce federal Medicaid expenditures by more than $1 trillion over the next decade and includes work requirements and greater cost-sharing, which could curb coverage and funding for certain groups. As a result, states are expected to bear a larger share of Medicaid costs, with limitations on federal growth, even as the program continues to serve 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.