Bothell Medicaid expenditure on non-oral drug administration soars to $16,015 in 2024

According to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Medicaid Provider Spending database, Medicaid providers in Bothell billed $16,015 in 2024 for services under the Drugs Administered Other than Oral Method category. This marked an 855% jump from 2023, when claims in this category totaled $1,677.

Medicaid is administered by states and jointly financed by federal and state governments, serving low-income families, seniors, children, and individuals with disabilities and representing a major component of the U.S. health care system. More information on Medicaid funding is available from the Commonwealth Fund.

As Medicaid is funded with taxpayer dollars, fluctuations in billing levels within communities illustrate how public health care funding is allocated locally.

The “Drugs Administered Other than Oral Method” group identifies Medicaid-billed services based on types of care provided, using standard HCPCS and CPT code sets. Each code was matched to a single service category for this analysis using standardized code prefixes and number intervals, ensuring consistent tracking of related services, preventing double counting, and maintaining ranking accuracy across years.

Spending for multiple major Medicaid categories increased, but Drugs Administered Other than Oral Method was the 11th-highest in Bothell by overall Medicaid payments in 2024.

Statewide, the Drugs Administered Other than Oral Method category ranked 10th in Washington by Medicaid payment totals in 2024.

Looking at the five years preceding 2024, Medicaid spending for Drugs Administered Other than Oral Method services in Bothell rose by $14,611, a 1041% increase. Year-over-year spikes were especially pronounced during 2020 and 2023.

This spending was not uniform across Bothell. Instead, Medicaid payments in this category were concentrated in a handful of ZIP codes. The highest Medicaid spending was recorded in ZIP code 98012 at $15,639, followed by 98021 at $375, with these two ZIP codes together accounting for 100% of category payments within Bothell for 2024.

A limited set of individual billing codes made up the bulk of Medicaid payments within the Drugs Administered Other than Oral Method group.

For context, while Medicaid spending on this category in Bothell increased 855% from 2023 to 2024, Medicaid claims for all categories across the city grew by 18.8% during the same timespan.

According to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, combined federal and state Medicaid spending hit about $871.7 billion in fiscal year 2023—or approximately 18% of overall national health expenditures—up from around $613.5 billion in 2019, prior to the COVID-19 pandemic.

This rise represents an expansion of nearly 40% over several years, primarily fueled by enrollment increases and higher use during and after the pandemic period.

Recent federal budget packages under the Trump administration feature proposals for large cuts to federal Medicaid funding and program restructuring. The “One Big Beautiful Bill Act,” enacted in 2025, is set to reduce federal Medicaid payments by more than $1 trillion over the following decade. It also launches policies including work requirements and higher cost-sharing that may limit coverage and funding for certain recipients. These federal changes are forecast to increase state-level responsibility for funding and restrict the pace of future federal Medicaid growth.

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.