Medicaid bills for pathology and lab services total $14,966 in Mill Creek for 2024

In 2024, Medicaid providers in Mill Creek billed a total of $14,966 for Pathology and Laboratory Procedures, as reported by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Medicaid Provider Spending database. This amount represents a 31.1% increase over 2023, when claims for these services reached $11,415.

Medicaid, a state-managed and federally and state-funded public health insurance program, covers low-income families and individuals, seniors, children, and people with disabilities, making it a major component of the U.S. health care system.

Since Medicaid is funded by taxpayers, fluctuations in local billing reflect how public health expenditures are distributed in the community.

The “Pathology and Laboratory Procedures” group covers a range of Medicaid-billed care based on defined HCPCS and CPT code groupings. For this report, each billing code was consistently placed into a single service group according to code prefixes and number ranges, enabling collective review of related services while avoiding overlap and maintaining data accuracy over time.

While several service groups saw higher Medicaid spending, Pathology and Laboratory Procedures placed third in Mill Creek for total Medicaid payments in 2024.

Statewide in Washington, Pathology and Laboratory Procedures ranked fifth in total payments for 2024.

From 2020 to 2024, Medicaid payments in Mill Creek for the Pathology and Laboratory Procedures category rose by $14,966, or 0%. Growth in spending picked up in some years, with significant yearly gains noted in both 2022 and 2022.

Although expenditures for Pathology and Laboratory Procedures were distributed across Mill Creek, most payments were concentrated in a few ZIP codes. In 2024, ZIP code 98012 posted the highest Medicaid payments for this care type, totaling $14,966. The leading ZIP code accounted for 100% of Medicaid payments in this category in Mill Creek for the year.

Within Pathology and Laboratory Procedures, Medicaid reimbursements were mainly tied to a small set of billing codes.

To put this in perspective, Medicaid payments for Pathology and Laboratory Procedures in Mill Creek increased 31.1% between 2024 and 2023. By comparison, all Medicaid claim categories in the city increased by 11% during the same timeframe.

According to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, combined Medicaid spending by federal and state governments reached about $871.7 billion in fiscal year 2023, making up approximately 18% of overall national health spending. That figure has climbed sharply from $613.5 billion in 2019, before the COVID-19 pandemic.

This growth equates to roughly 40% over a few years, much of it fueled by rising enrollment and increased service use during and after the pandemic period.

Recent federal budget actions under the Trump administration included major proposals to shrink federal Medicaid funding and reshape the program. The “One Big Beautiful Bill Act,” enacted in 2025, is expected to reduce federal Medicaid spending by more than $1 trillion in the next decade and adds policies such as work requirements and higher cost-sharing that could limit coverage and funding for certain beneficiaries. These adjustments are likely to increase state responsibilities and place limits on federal support, though Medicaid continues to cover tens of millions of Americans.

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.