Forest Hills sees $2,102,300 in Medicaid billing for medicine services in 2024

Forest Hills Medicaid providers billed $2,102,300 for Medicine Services and Procedures in 2024, data from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Medicaid Provider Spending database shows. This was a 14.3% increase from 2023, when providers submitted $1,838,892 for the same service type.

Medicaid, a public health insurance program administered by states and funded jointly by federal and state governments, serves low-income families and individuals, seniors, children, and people with disabilities. It represents one of the largest segments of the U.S. health care sector.

Fluctuations in local Medicaid billing levels reflect how tax dollars support public health care in the community.

The “Medicine Services and Procedures” group represents Medicaid-billed services categorized by care type, relying on standardized HCPCS and CPT code frameworks. Each billing code in this report was matched to a single service group using specific code prefixes and numerical sequences, allowing analysts to review related services while avoiding double counts and maintaining accurate tracking over time.

Among all Medicaid categories, Medicine Services and Procedures represented the largest payment total in Forest Hills for 2024.

Across Pennsylvania, Medicine Services and Procedures ranked third in Medicaid payments that year.

From 2019 through 2024, Medicaid spending for Medicine Services and Procedures in Forest Hills climbed by $1,004,487, an overall increase of 91.5%. Notably, spending growth accelerated during certain periods, including noteworthy year-to-year gains in 2021 and 2022.

Payments for medicine services were distributed citywide, but most were concentrated in a handful of ZIP codes. The ZIP code 15221 accounted for $2,102,299 in 2024—representing all reported Medicaid payments in this category for Forest Hills.

A limited number of individual billing codes generated the bulk of Medicaid payments within the Medicine Services and Procedures category.

Medicine Services and Procedures Medicaid payments in Forest Hills increased by 14.3% between 2024 and 2023, outpacing the 13.1% change observed for all Medicaid claim categories in the city in this period.

According to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, federal and state Medicaid expenses reached about $871.7 billion in the 2023 fiscal year, comprising roughly 18% of total national health spending, up sharply from $613.5 billion in 2019, ahead of the COVID-19 pandemic.

This represents roughly 40% growth over a few years, attributed mostly to higher enrollment and increased utilization during and following the pandemic period.

Recent federal budget laws signed during the Trump administration include significant plans to scale back federal Medicaid funds and change the program structure. For example, the “One Big Beautiful Bill Act,” enacted in 2025, is expected to reduce federal Medicaid outlays by more than $1 trillion over 10 years, introducing work requirements and higher cost-sharing that may limit access and support for some enrollees. These changes are expected to require states to shoulder more costs and cap further expansion of federal Medicaid funding, though the program continues to serve 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.