Asheville sees 18.5% rise in 2024 Medicaid payments for Evaluation and Management services

In 2024, Medicaid providers in Asheville submitted $21,772,095 in claims for Evaluation and Management services, according to data from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Medicaid Provider Spending database. This represented an 18.5% rise over the 2023 total of $18,371,581 for the same set of services.

Medicaid is a public health insurance initiative operated by the states and jointly financed by federal and state governments. Serving low-income people and families, seniors, children, and those with disabilities, the program is one of the largest components of the U.S. health care system.

Since Medicaid spending is sourced from taxpayers, fluctuations in local billing reflect the allocation of public health care resources in the area.

The Evaluation and Management grouping covers a defined set of Medicaid-billed services categorized by care type, relying on standardized HCPCS and CPT code ranges. For this study, codes were grouped under consistent prefixes and numerical intervals, permitting related services to be analyzed together while preventing duplication and ensuring year-over-year comparability.

Evaluation and Management was the third-largest Medicaid payment category in Asheville in 2024, among several categories that saw spending increases.

Statewide across North Carolina, Evaluation and Management stood as the second-ranking Medicaid category by total payments in 2024.

Across the five-year period ending in 2024, Medicaid spending for Evaluation and Management services in Asheville climbed $10,727,140, or 97.1%. Growth accelerated during certain intervals, especially in 2021 and 2022.

Spending related to Evaluation and Management services, while spread citywide, was most pronounced in a few ZIP codes during 2024. These included 28801, with $11,944,260; 28803, at $5,961,160; and 28805, totaling $1,675,884. The top 3 ZIP codes combined to account for 89.9% of Medicaid payments for this category in Asheville during the year.

Medicaid payments within Evaluation and Management services were dominated by a select number of specific billing codes.

Comparing year over year, Asheville’s Medicaid spending in this category rose 18.5% from 2023 to 2024, outpacing the 6.6% change observed across all Medicaid claim categories in the city during the same interval.

According to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, combined Medicaid expenditures from federal and state sources totaled about $871.7 billion in fiscal year 2023, which was approximately 18% of all national health spending. This is a significant jump from nearly $613.5 billion in 2019, before the COVID-19 pandemic.

This change equates to roughly 40% growth in just a few years, mainly driven by increased participation in Medicaid and higher health service use during and after the pandemic.

Legislation passed during the Trump administration put forth substantial changes, including proposals to reduce federal Medicaid funding and reshape the program structure. 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. It also introduces work requirements and increased cost-sharing, measures that may curtail coverage and resources for certain beneficiaries. Such changes are projected to transfer more financial responsibility to states and limit the expansion of federal Medicaid support as the program continues to aid tens of millions of Americans.

Note: HCPCS codes are included to provide context within the category. The totals and rankings referenced in this article use consolidated service groupings and not individual billing codes.

All information cited in this article comes from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Medicaid Provider Spending database. Original source data is available here.