In 2024, Medicaid providers in Houston reported $501,668,291 in payments for services categorized under Temporary National Codes (Non-Medicare), data from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Medicaid Provider Spending database show. This represents a 1.1% rise from 2023, when claims for these services totaled $496,387,168.
Medicaid, a public health insurance program administered by the states and funded through a joint federal and state partnership, serves low-income people and families, seniors, children and those with disabilities, making it a major segment of the U.S. health care system.
Because taxpayer dollars support Medicaid payments, shifts in local billing levels reflect how public health care resources are distributed in a community.
The “Temporary National Codes (Non-Medicare)” category includes a range of Medicaid-billed services defined by the type of care delivered and organized through standardized HCPCS and CPT code groupings. For this report, each billing code is placed into a single service category using consistent code prefixes and numerical ranges, ensuring similar services are tracked collectively while preventing double counting and maintaining accuracy in rankings over time.
This category led all others in Houston for total Medicaid payments in 2024 as Medicaid spending increased across several service groups.
Statewide, Temporary National Codes (Non-Medicare) also topped payment categories for Texas in 2024.
Between 2019 and 2024, Houston saw Medicaid payments for Temporary National Codes (Non-Medicare) grow by $306,314,769, a 156.8% jump. Spending growth accelerated at times during this period, with significant year-to-year increases observed in 2021 and 2020.
While dollars for care under this category were distributed citywide, a few ZIP codes saw the highest payment volumes. In 2024, ZIP code 77036 led with $103,441,139 in payments, followed by 77072 at $44,239,572 and 77042 with $42,420,920. Collectively, these 3 ZIP codes made up 37.9% of all Medicaid spending for Temporary National Codes (Non-Medicare) in Houston for the year.
Medicaid payments within this category were concentrated among a select group of billing codes.
In comparison, Medicaid spending on Temporary National Codes (Non-Medicare) in Houston rose 1.1% from 2023 to 2024, while overall Medicaid claim categories in the city experienced a 9.1% change over the same timeframe.
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services reports that combined federal and state Medicaid outlays were about $871.7 billion in fiscal 2023, making up roughly 18% of total U.S. health expenditures. That figure rose sharply from $613.5 billion in 2019, prior to the COVID-19 pandemic.
This rise amounts to roughly 40% growth in only a few years, driven mainly by increased enrollment and higher utilization during and after the pandemic.
Recent federal budget legislation passed during the Trump administration included major proposals to reduce federal Medicaid funding and alter the program’s structure. The “One Big Beautiful Bill Act,” enacted in 2025, is expected to decrease federal Medicaid spending by over $1 trillion over the next 10 years. It introduces measures such as work requirements and greater cost-sharing, potentially decreasing coverage and funding for certain beneficiaries. These policy shifts may increase state financial burdens and restrain federal Medicaid growth, despite the program continuing to cover tens of millions of Americans.
| Year | Total Medicaid Payments | % Change From Previous Year |
|---|---|---|
| 2020 | $195,353,521 | 74.9% |
| 2021 | $458,814,448 | 134.9% |
| 2022 | $501,523,541 | 9.3% |
| 2023 | $496,387,168 | -1% |
| 2024 | $501,668,290 | 1.1% |
| Rank | Category | Medicaid Payments | Share of City Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Temporary National Codes (Non-Medicare) | $501,668,290 | 30.1% |
| 2 | National Codes Established for State Medicaid Agencies | $383,673,806 | 23% |
| 3 | Alcohol and Drug Abuse Treatment | $216,421,301 | 13% |
| 4 | Evaluation and Management | $206,888,444 | 12.4% |
| 5 | Medicine Services and Procedures | $119,311,256 | 7.2% |
| 6 | Pathology and Laboratory Procedures | $52,368,533 | 3.1% |
| 7 | Enteral and Parenteral Therapy | $44,407,383 | 2.7% |
| 8 | Dental Services | $33,954,909 | 2% |
| 9 | Ambulance and Other Transport Services and Supplies | $20,159,837 | 1.2% |
| 10 | Durable Medical Equipment | $16,571,528 | 1% |
| 11 | Radiology Procedures | $15,846,560 | 1% |
| 12 | Medical And Surgical Supplies | $15,158,355 | 0.9% |
| 13 | Surgery | $14,399,464 | 0.9% |
| 14 | Procedures / Professional Services | $10,898,526 | 0.7% |
| 15 | Anesthesia | $5,987,780 | 0.4% |
| 16 | Vision Services | $2,687,763 | 0.2% |
| 17 | Drugs Administered Other than Oral Method | $1,372,135 | 0.1% |
| 18 | Durable medical equipment (DME) Medicare administrative contractors (MACs) | $1,355,455 | 0.1% |
| 19 | Miscellaneous Medical Services | $1,027,621 | 0.1% |
| 20 | Chemotherapy Drugs | $394,113 | <0.1% |
| 21 | Administrative, Miscellaneous and Investigational | $232,070 | <0.1% |
| 22 | Orthotic Procedures and services | $174,786 | <0.1% |
| 23 | Pathology and Laboratory Services | $104,062 | <0.1% |
| 24 | Temporary Codes | $26,446 | <0.1% |
| 25 | Coronavirus Diagnostic Panel | $24,668 | <0.1% |
| 26 | Hearing Services | $5,417 | <0.1% |
| 27 | Prosthetic Procedures | $2,076 | <0.1% |
| 28 | Other Services | $0 | <0.1% |
| 28 | Outpatient PPS | $0 | <0.1% |
| 28 | Screening Procedures | $0 | <0.1% |
| HCPCS Code | Description | Medicaid Payments | Claims |
|---|---|---|---|
| S5125 | Attendant care service /15m | $479,369,848 | 2,846 |
| S5101 | Adult day care per half day | $13,299,477 | 331 |
| S9125 | Respite care, in the home, p | $3,004,332 | 38 |
| S9124 | Nursing care, in the home; b | $2,024,508 | 15 |
| S9110 | Telemonitoring/home per mnth | $725,930 | 61 |
| S0621 | Routine ophthalmological exa | $629,565 | 438 |
| S9152 | Speech therapy, re-eval | $590,059 | 222 |
| S0620 | Routine ophthalmological exa | $549,357 | 514 |
| S8990 | Pt or manip for maint | $340,562 | 24 |
| S5150 | Unskilled respite care /15m | $246,567 | 14 |
| S9128 | Speech therapy, in the home, | $200,760 | 12 |
| S9083 | Urgent care center global | $185,219 | 26 |
| S8101 | Spacer with mask | $168,233 | 42 |
| S9351 | Hit cont antiemetic diem | $59,351 | 1 |
| S5170 | Homedelivered prepared meal | $52,858 | 11 |
| S9485 | Crisis intervention mental h | $51,443 | 5 |
| S9123 | Nursing care in home rn | $44,540 | 10 |
| S8940 | Hippotherapy per session | $37,708 | 8 |
| S5199 | Personal care item nos each | $26,142 | 22 |
| S9129 | Occupational therapy, in the | $20,255 | 3 |
Note: HCPCS codes are presented for context within the category. Category tallies and rankings in this article are generated from standardized service groups rather than specific billing codes.
The data in this article is based on information from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Medicaid Provider Spending database. Full source data is available here.
