Bluffton Medicaid Evaluation and Management payments total $1,124,817 for 2024

Bluffton’s Medicaid providers billed $1,124,817 in 2024 for services classified in the Evaluation and Management category, according to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Medicaid Provider Spending database. This was a 1.3% rise from the prior year, when claims for this service category totaled $1,110,169.

Medicaid, a state-operated health insurance program with state and federal funding, covers eligible low-income families and individuals, seniors, children and people with disabilities. As part of the broader U.S. health care system, Medicaid represents a significant share of overall national health spending. For more on funding, see the program’s fiscal breakdown here.

Since Medicaid is funded by taxpayers, fluctuations in local billing illustrate how public health funding is allocated across a community.

The Evaluation and Management category includes a set of Medicaid-billed services grouped by care type, as defined by standardized HCPCS and CPT coding systems. This analysis assigned each billing code to a single service grouping using standard code patterns, which prevents double counting and maintains accurate annual comparisons.

Medicaid outlays rose in several categories, and Evaluation and Management ranked as the second-highest by total Medicaid payments in Bluffton in 2024.

Statewide in South Carolina, Evaluation and Management was also second by total Medicaid payments for the year.

Over the five years preceding 2024, Bluffton’s Medicaid payments for Evaluation and Management services grew by $31,472, or 2.7%. Some periods saw sharper increases, with the most significant year-to-year gains in 2021 and 2020.

While spending for Evaluation and Management took place citywide, most payments were concentrated in a few ZIP codes. During 2024, ZIP code 29910 accounted for the category’s entire $1,124,817 in Medicaid payments, making up 100% of the total reported for Bluffton.

Additionally, only a small number of billing codes represented the majority of Medicaid payments within this category.

For additional context, Bluffton’s Medicaid Evaluation and Management payments rose 1.3% between 2023 and 2024, whereas all Medicaid claim categories combined saw a 12.2% change in that period.

According to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, federal and state Medicaid spending combined approached $871.7 billion in fiscal year 2023, amounting to roughly 18% of total U.S. health expenditures. This is a significant increase from the approximately $613.5 billion spent in 2019, prior to the COVID-19 pandemic.

This trend reflects nearly 40% growth within a few years, primarily influenced by higher enrollment numbers and service use during and after the pandemic.

Recent Trump-era federal budget laws have introduced major proposals to lower federal Medicaid funding and change program structures. The “One Big Beautiful Bill Act,” signed in 2025, is expected to cut over $1 trillion from federal Medicaid over 10 years while adding work requirements and cost-sharing. These changes may reduce federal support and coverage for certain Medicaid beneficiaries, shifting more costs onto state governments.

Note: HCPCS codes are shown for context within the category. Category totals and rankings in this article are based on standardized service groupings rather than individual billing codes.

Information in this article was obtained from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Medicaid Provider Spending database. The source data can be found here.