Data from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Medicaid Provider Spending database show that Medicaid providers in Tukwila submitted $91,493 in claims for Alcohol and Drug Abuse Treatment services during 2024. This amount represents a 51% rise compared with 2023, when claims for the same category totaled $60,575.
Medicaid, a public health insurance initiative operated by the states and financed collaboratively by federal and state governments, supports low-income people and families, seniors, children, and individuals with disabilities, and remains one of the largest segments of the U.S. health care system.
As Medicaid is funded by taxpayers, shifts in local billing illustrate how public health care resources are allocated within specific communities.
The “Alcohol and Drug Abuse Treatment” classification encompasses Medicaid-billed services specified by care type, following defined HCPCS and CPT code groupings. In this analysis, each billing code was categorized under one service type through established code prefixes and number ranges, allowing for the aggregation of similar services with no duplication and ensuring consistent rankings over time.
Multiple Medicaid service categories saw increased spending, but Alcohol and Drug Abuse Treatment ranked 11th overall for total payments in Tukwila in 2024.
Statewide in Washington, the Alcohol and Drug Abuse Treatment category held the fourth position in total Medicaid payments for 2024.
From 2019 to 2024, Tukwila’s Medicaid payments connected to Alcohol and Drug Abuse Treatment rose by $42,898, which is an 88.3% increase. The rate of spending growth accelerated in certain years, with noteworthy year-over-year increases observed throughout 2023 and 2022.
While claims within this category were billed across multiple locations in the city, payment totals were concentrated in a few specific ZIP codes. In 2024, ZIP code 98188 accounted for $91,492 in payments, and 98168 registered $0. Together, these two ZIP codes made up 100% of Medicaid payments attributed to Alcohol and Drug Abuse Treatment in Tukwila that year.
Payments in the Alcohol and Drug Abuse Treatment section were also focused among a select group of individual billing codes.
When comparing trends, Tukwila’s Medicaid payments for Alcohol and Drug Abuse Treatment increased 51% from 2023 to 2024, compared to a 28.2% change across all Medicaid claim categories citywide during that period.
According to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, in fiscal year 2023, total federal and state Medicaid spending reached approximately $871.7 billion, making up about 18% of all U.S. national health spending. This is a sharp increase from roughly $613.5 billion in 2019, before the COVID-19 pandemic.
This rise indicates around 40% growth over several years, mainly driven by greater enrollment and increased usage during and after the pandemic period.
Federal budget legislation during the Trump administration featured significant measures to decrease federal Medicaid funding and overhaul how the program operates. The “One Big Beautiful Bill Act,” enacted in 2025, is expected to reduce federal Medicaid funding by over $1 trillion over the coming decade and incorporates new policies like work requirements and higher cost-sharing, which may limit coverage and funding for some recipients. These legislative changes are projected to place greater financial responsibility on states and constrain the growth of federal Medicaid support, even as the program continues to serve tens of millions nationwide.
| Year | Total Medicaid Payments | % Change From Previous Year |
|---|---|---|
| 2020 | $48,595 | -60.6% |
| 2021 | $2,687 | -94.5% |
| 2022 | $4,180 | 55.5% |
| 2023 | $60,574 | 1349.2% |
| 2024 | $91,492 | 51% |
| Rank | Category | Medicaid Payments | Share of City Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ambulance and Other Transport Services and Supplies | $3,334,854 | 24.6% |
| 2 | Enteral and Parenteral Therapy | $2,664,486 | 19.6% |
| 3 | National Codes Established for State Medicaid Agencies | $2,139,706 | 15.8% |
| 4 | Medical And Surgical Supplies | $1,051,724 | 7.7% |
| 5 | Dental Services | $877,396 | 6.5% |
| 6 | Procedures / Professional Services | $868,785 | 6.4% |
| 7 | Pathology and Laboratory Procedures | $815,235 | 6% |
| 8 | Evaluation and Management | $641,731 | 4.7% |
| 9 | Medicine Services and Procedures | $471,980 | 3.5% |
| 10 | Drugs Administered Other than Oral Method | $337,521 | 2.5% |
| 11 | Alcohol and Drug Abuse Treatment | $91,492 | 0.7% |
| 12 | Diagnostic Radiology Services | $88,189 | 0.6% |
| 13 | Radiology Procedures | $56,761 | 0.4% |
| 14 | Durable medical equipment (DME) Medicare administrative contractors (MACs) | $55,828 | 0.4% |
| 15 | Durable Medical Equipment | $43,627 | 0.3% |
| 16 | Temporary Codes | $21,535 | 0.2% |
| 17 | Temporary National Codes (Non-Medicare) | $17,828 | 0.1% |
| 18 | Surgery | $701 | <0.1% |
| 19 | Pathology and Laboratory Services | $0 | <0.1% |
| HCPCS Code | Description | Medicaid Payments | Claims |
|---|---|---|---|
| H0004 | Alcohol and/or drug services | $81,769 | 1,376 |
| H2015 | Comp comm supp svc, 15 min | $8,993 | 537 |
| H0046 | Mental health service, nos | $549 | 84 |
| H0038 | Self-help/peer svc per 15min | $180 | 52 |
| H0019 | Alcohol and/or drug services | $0 | 12 |
| H0023 | Alcohol and/or drug outreach | $0 | 1 |
| H0032 | Mh svc plan dev by non-md | $0 | 1 |
| H0034 | Med trng & support per 15min | $0 | 41 |
| H2011 | Crisis interven svc, 15 min | $0 | 95 |
| H2012 | Behav hlth day treat, per hr | $0 | 26 |
| H2022 | Com wrap-around sv, per diem | $0 | 5 |
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.
