Paterson Medicaid COVID-19 service claims reached $123,283 in 2024

At least $123,283 in Medicaid payments were made for COVID-19–specific services in Paterson in 2024, based on data from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Medicaid Provider Spending database.

Medicaid, the public health insurance program jointly funded by state and federal governments, covers low-income families and individuals as well as seniors, children and people with disabilities. This makes it a central part of the national health care system.

Taxpayer funding for Medicaid means that local billing changes help determine how a community’s public health care resources are allocated.

Researchers identified COVID-19–related services using HCPCS codes that were either labeled or classified as “COVID-19” or “coronavirus” in billing references or descriptions. Accordingly, these figures capture only services that were directly described in billing data as COVID-related, and do not include care linked to the pandemic billed under general or differently coded services.

For comparison within New Jersey, Clifton recorded $1,725,516 in Medicaid payments for COVID-19–related claims in 2024, the state’s highest total.

In Paterson, six providers billed Medicaid for COVID-19–related services in 2024. Among the major codes used, COVID Specific represented $63,421 of the total.

Paterson’s average Medicaid payment per provider for COVID-19–related care came to $20,547, which was below the statewide average of $33,367.

COVID-19–specific claims contributed significantly to growth in Medicaid spending in Paterson during the main pandemic years.

Payments for all other Medicaid claim types increased by $32,576,256 between 2020 and 2024, showing a 28.6% rise.

According to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, federal and state Medicaid spending combined totaled about $871.7 billion during the 2023 fiscal year, roughly 18% of the nation’s total health expenditures. This was a steep increase from approximately $613.5 billion in 2019, before the pandemic.

The roughly 40% growth was mostly due to increased enrollment and greater use of services during and after the pandemic.

Recent federal budget laws passed during the Trump administration introduced major proposals to curb federal Medicaid funding and restructure the program. The “One Big Beautiful Bill Act,” signed in 2025, is expected to reduce federal Medicaid funding by more than $1 trillion over the next decade. The legislation also enacts work requirements and greater cost-sharing, which may lower benefits and federal support for some recipients. As a result, states are likely to bear more costs as federal growth slows, even while Medicaid continues to cover tens of millions of people.

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

This report uses information from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Medicaid Provider Spending database. Find the source data here.