Altoona Medicaid spending on durable medical equipment climbs 15% to $238K in 2024

In 2024, Medicaid providers in Altoona submitted $237,781 in claims for services under the Durable Medical Equipment category, data from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Medicaid Provider Spending database shows. This represents a 14.7% rise from 2023, when providers reported $207,366 in claims for similar services.

Medicaid is a state-administered public health insurance program funded by both federal and state governments. It provides coverage for seniors, children, people with disabilities, and low-income individuals and families, making it among the major parts of the U.S. health care system.

Because Medicaid payments are taxpayer funded, variations in local billing levels demonstrate how public health care resources are distributed in specific communities.

The “Durable Medical Equipment” grouping covers services billed through Medicaid that are defined by standardized HCPCS and CPT code ranges and prefixes. For this analysis, each billing code was assigned to only one service category to allow for accurate grouping of related services, prevent double counting, and maintain consistent rankings over time.

Spending on Medicaid rose in several service categories, with Durable Medical Equipment ranking second overall in Altoona by total Medicaid payments for 2024.

Statewide in Wisconsin, Durable Medical Equipment was the 13th largest category by Medicaid payments in 2024.

From 2019 through 2024, Medicaid payments for Durable Medical Equipment in Altoona expanded by $84,294, or 54.9%. The rate of growth picked up in specific years, with significant annual increases in 2021 and 2022.

Although payments for Durable Medical Equipment were distributed around Altoona, the majority of payments were concentrated in a few ZIP codes. In 2024, ZIP code 54720 accounted for $237,781 in payments. The top ZIP code made up 100% of Medicaid payments for Durable Medical Equipment in Altoona in that year.

Within this category, the majority of Medicaid payments were attributed to a small selection of individual billing codes.

To compare, Medicaid spending for Durable Medical Equipment in Altoona increased 14.7% from 2023 to 2024, while payments across all Medicaid claim categories in the city jumped 98.9% during the same period.

According to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, combined federal and state Medicaid spending rose to about $871.7 billion in fiscal year 2023, making up nearly 18% of all U.S. health care spending—up from about $613.5 billion in 2019, before the COVID-19 pandemic.

This growth reflects an increase of about 40% in recent years, driven chiefly by expanded Medicaid enrollment and higher utilization during and after the pandemic.

Recent federal budget actions during the Trump administration included major proposals to scale back federal Medicaid funding and alter the program. For example, the “One Big Beautiful Bill Act,” enacted in 2025, is expected to reduce federal Medicaid support by more than $1 trillion over 10 years, adding policies like work requirements and higher cost-sharing that could reduce benefits or funding for some enrollees. Such measures are projected to shift additional costs to states and restrain the growth of federal Medicaid aid, despite the program continuing to serve millions nationwide.

Note: HCPCS codes are provided for category context. All totals and rankings are based on standardized groupings, not individual billing codes.

Data for this report comes from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Medicaid Provider Spending database. The source data can be accessed here.