In 2024, Medicaid providers in Benton billed a total of $126,312 for procedures classified under the Surgery category, per data from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Medicaid Provider Spending database. This amount represents a 33.1% rise from 2023, when providers filed $94,930 in claims for services within the same classification.
Medicaid, a publicly funded health insurance program managed by individual states and jointly financed by federal and state governments, covers low-income people and families, seniors, children, and individuals with disabilities. This makes it one of the key components of the U.S. health care system. More information is available from the Commonwealth Fund.
Since Medicaid expenditures are sourced from taxpayer funds, fluctuations in local billing patterns help illustrate how public dollars for health care are distributed in local communities.
The “Surgery” classification comprises a set of Medicaid-billed services defined by the specific care performed, based on HCPCS and CPT code groupings. This analysis grouped each billing code into a single service category using standardized prefixes and numeric spans, helping associate like services, maintain singular counts, and reflect accurate rankings over time.
While Medicaid payments grew in many categories, Surgery took the eighth position by total Medicaid spending in Benton for 2024.
Statewide in Arkansas, the Surgery category placed 10th by total Medicaid payments during 2024.
Between 2019 and 2024, Medicaid payments for the Surgery category in Benton jumped by $105,892, or 518.6%. Increases gained momentum in certain periods, with significant year-over-year changes in 2021 and 2022.
Medicaid expenditures for Surgery were distributed in various parts of Benton but heavily focused in a small number of ZIP codes. For 2024, the largest Medicaid spending in the Surgery category appeared in ZIP code 72015, which received $125,684, and in 72022, with $627. Together, these two ZIP codes represented the entire Medicaid spending in this category in Benton for the year.
Within the Surgery classification, most Medicaid spending was concentrated among a few specific billing codes.
When comparing years, Medicaid payments tied to the Surgery category in Benton rose 33.1% between 2024 and 2023. Across all categories of Medicaid claims in the city, the change over the same period was 10%.
According to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, total federal and state Medicaid spending nearly reached $871.7 billion in fiscal 2023, accounting for about 18% of America’s overall health care expenses. This marks a considerable rise from $613.5 billion in 2019, before the COVID-19 emergency.
That surge represents about 40% growth in a matter of years, largely attributed to growth in enrollment and health service use during and following the pandemic.
Major federal budget measures enacted under the Trump administration have featured proposals to scale back federal Medicaid funding and make structural program revisions. The “One Big Beautiful Bill Act,” which became law in 2025, is estimated to reduce federal Medicaid spending by more than $1 trillion over the coming decade and brings new policies such as work requirements and greater cost-sharing, which could reduce access and funding for some recipients. These adjustments are likely to push more Medicaid costs onto states and cap future increases in federal Medicaid assistance, despite ongoing service for tens of millions of Americans.
| Year | Total Medicaid Payments | % Change From Previous Year |
|---|---|---|
| 2020 | $20,420 | -58.1% |
| 2021 | $45,400 | 122.3% |
| 2022 | $88,985 | 96% |
| 2023 | $94,929 | 6.7% |
| 2024 | $126,312 | 33.1% |
| Rank | Category | Medicaid Payments | Share of City Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Medicine Services and Procedures | $10,750,538 | 37.1% |
| 2 | Alcohol and Drug Abuse Treatment | $9,647,651 | 33.3% |
| 3 | National Codes Established for State Medicaid Agencies | $5,277,245 | 18.2% |
| 4 | Evaluation and Management | $1,624,908 | 5.6% |
| 5 | Pathology and Laboratory Procedures | $777,191 | 2.7% |
| 6 | Ambulance and Other Transport Services and Supplies | $494,934 | 1.7% |
| 7 | Radiology Procedures | $174,689 | 0.6% |
| 8 | Surgery | $126,312 | 0.4% |
| 9 | Anesthesia | $16,462 | 0.1% |
| 10 | Drugs Administered Other than Oral Method | $15,298 | 0.1% |
| 11 | Temporary National Codes (Non-Medicare) | $14,134 | <0.1% |
| 12 | Durable Medical Equipment | $12,221 | <0.1% |
| 13 | Dental Services | $6,305 | <0.1% |
| 14 | Procedures / Professional Services | $2,937 | <0.1% |
| 15 | Medical And Surgical Supplies | $168 | <0.1% |
| 16 | Temporary Codes | $22 | <0.1% |
| 17 | Pathology and Laboratory Services | $21 | <0.1% |
| HCPCS Code | Description | Medicaid Payments | Claims |
|---|---|---|---|
| 11042 | Dbrdmt subq tis 1st 20sqcm/< | $76,624 | 20 |
| 59025 | Fetal non-stress test | $45,171 | 11 |
| 66984 | Xcapsl ctrc rmvl w/o ecp | $3,303 | 1 |
| 20610 | Drain/inj joint/bursa w/o us | $627 | 1 |
| 36415 | Coll venous bld venipuncture | $584 | 21 |
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.