Salt Lake City sees $39,316 in Medicaid claims tied to COVID-19 services in 2024

Data from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Medicaid Provider Spending database shows that Medicaid payments for services billed using COVID-19–specific HCPCS codes in Salt Lake City reached at least $39,316 in 2024.

Medicaid is a public health insurance program managed by the states and funded with joint contributions from federal and state governments. The program provides coverage to low-income residents, seniors, children, and people with disabilities, and remains one of the largest segments of the U.S. health care system.

Since taxpayer dollars support Medicaid payments, adjustments in local billing demonstrate how community public health care funds are allocated.

For this report, COVID-19–related services were identified through HCPCS codes with billing descriptions or references directly labeled as “COVID-19” or “coronavirus”. As a result, these numbers reflect only services specifically categorized as COVID-related in billing records and do not include other pandemic-related care that may be coded differently.

Salt Lake City reported the highest Medicaid payments for COVID-19–related services statewide in 2024.

There were 10 Medicaid providers in Salt Lake City who billed for COVID-19–related services that year. Among the most frequently used codes, COVID-19 Vaccine Administration represented $24,755 of the total.

On average, Medicaid providers in Salt Lake City received $3,932 each for COVID-19–related care in 2024, compared with the state average of $3,456 per provider.

During the pandemic years, spending on COVID-19–specific services remained a significant portion of Salt Lake City Medicaid expenditures.

Total Medicaid payments for all other claim categories rose by $52,453,275 from 2020 to 2024, a change of 20.6%.

The average annual amount for Medicaid payments in Salt Lake City was $226,001,601 during the two years prior to the pandemic.

According to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, combined federal and state Medicaid expenditures totaled about $871.7 billion in fiscal year 2023, roughly 18% of national health outlays, increasing significantly from about $613.5 billion in 2019, before the COVID-19 pandemic.

This growth, nearly 40% over several years, was mainly due to expanded enrollment and greater use of services during and after the pandemic.

Recent federal budget law changes under the Trump administration included major proposals to restructure Medicaid funding. The “One Big Beautiful Bill Act,” passed in 2025, is expected to reduce federal Medicaid spending by over $1 trillion in the next 10 years and implements requirements such as work mandates and higher cost-sharing, which may decrease coverage for some recipients. These adjustments may push additional costs onto states and curb the pace of federal Medicaid growth, even as the program continues serving millions across the nation.

Note: Includes HCPCS codes explicitly labeled for COVID-19 services; totals do not represent all pandemic-related health care spending.

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Medicaid Provider Spending database was used as a source for this analysis. Source data is available here.