Thomaston Medicaid COVID-19 service payments reach $8,443 in 2024

At least $8,443 in Medicaid payments were made in Thomaston during 2024 for care billed under HCPCS codes directly linked to COVID-19, based on U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Medicaid Provider Spending data.

Medicaid, a public health insurance program, is managed by the states and funded through a partnership between federal and state governments. It provides coverage for low-income people, families, seniors, children, and individuals with disabilities, making it a major segment of the American health care system.

Since Medicaid is funded by taxpayers, shifts in local billing reflect changes in how community health care resources are distributed.

For this report, services related to COVID-19 were determined by using HCPCS codes identified or classified as “COVID-19” or “coronavirus”-related according to billing descriptions and supporting data. Thus, these figures capture only services directly assigned a COVID-related label and may not include broader pandemic care billed under other codes.

For comparison, Dalton had the highest Medicaid COVID-19 payment total among Georgia cities in 2024, with $147,318 in virus-related claims.

In 2024, Zoe Center For Pediatric & Adolescent Health, LLC was the sole provider submitting Medicaid claims for COVID-19–related services in Thomaston.

COVID-19–specific services made up a significant portion of Medicaid spending growth in Thomaston during the pandemic period.

In the two years before the pandemic, Thomaston’s average annual Medicaid payments amounted to $203,547.

Data from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services show that combined state and federal Medicaid expenditures reached about $871.7 billion during fiscal year 2023, or roughly 18% of all U.S. health spending. This marks a notable increase from around $613.5 billion in 2019, before the COVID-19 pandemic began.

This represents about 40% growth over a few years, largely due to expanded enrollment and greater use of services during and after the pandemic period.

Recent federal budget measures under the Trump administration have proposed major reductions to federal Medicaid funding and plans to restructure the program. The “One Big Beautiful Bill Act,” signed in 2025, includes projected cuts totaling more than $1 trillion to federal Medicaid funding over the coming decade, and implements policies such as work requirements and higher cost-sharing that may reduce benefits for some enrollees. These changes are expected to place greater financial responsibility on states and slow federal Medicaid growth, even as the program serves tens of millions nationwide.

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

This article is based on information from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Medicaid Provider Spending database. The data source is available here.