Bryson City Medicaid bills for COVID-19 services surpassed $41,000 in 2024

In 2024, Medicaid reimbursements for services with HCPCS codes directly connected to COVID-19 totaled at least $41,325 in Bryson City, based on statistics from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Medicaid Provider Spending database.

Medicaid, one of the largest components of the U.S. health system, is a public insurance initiative funded by both federal and state governments and administered by individual states. It provides coverage for low-income people, children, the elderly, and individuals with disabilities.

Because Medicaid payments come from public funds, fluctuations in local billing highlight how communities allocate health care resources.

For this report, COVID-19 services were identified by HCPCS codes described as “COVID-19” or “coronavirus”-related in official billing or reference data. Figures include only those services labeled explicitly as COVID-19, and do not reflect medical care tied to the pandemic that might have used less specific billing codes.

For comparison, Charlotte registered the highest total in North Carolina for Medicaid spending on COVID-19-linked services in 2024, with claims reaching $2,373,883.

According to the data, Dlp Swain County Hospital, LLC was the sole provider billing Medicaid for COVID-19 services in the city during 2024.

Services tied specifically to COVID-19 made up a significant portion of increased Medicaid expenditures in Bryson City during the pandemic.

On average, in the two years before the pandemic, Bryson City’s annual Medicaid payments reached $1,692,889.

According to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, federal and state Medicaid spending combined for about $871.7 billion in fiscal year 2023, or around 18% of the nation’s health spending, an increase from the roughly $613.5 billion total in 2019, prior to the COVID-19 outbreak.

This represents growth of nearly 40% in several years, primarily attributed to higher enrollment and increased service use during and following the pandemic.

Federal budget measures enacted under the Trump administration brought significant proposals to decrease Medicaid spending and overhaul the program. The “One Big Beautiful Bill Act,” enacted in 2025, is anticipated to cut federal Medicaid expenditures by more than $1 trillion across 10 years and will introduce changes such as work requirements and additional out-of-pocket costs, potentially reducing benefits and funding for certain recipients. These adjustments could result in increased financial responsibility for states and cap the growth of federal Medicaid support, though the program continues to aid millions across the U.S.

Note: Totals reflect only COVID-19–specific HCPCS codes; these figures do not account for all pandemic-related health costs.

Data for this article comes from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Medicaid Provider Spending database. The original source data is available here.