Kensington sees 83.4% surge in Medicaid payments for state agencies codes in 2024

In 2024, Medicaid providers in Kensington submitted claims totaling $3,597,903 for services within the National Codes Established for State Medicaid Agencies category, data from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Medicaid Provider Spending database show. This amount represents an 83.4% rise from 2023, when claims in the same service category totaled $1,962,249.

Medicaid, a state-run public health insurance system funded jointly by the federal and state governments, provides coverage for low-income individuals and families, seniors, children, and persons with disabilities. It constitutes a major portion of the nation’s health care funding.

Since Medicaid is supported by taxpayer funds, shifts in local billing can highlight how health care resources are distributed within a community.

The “National Codes Established for State Medicaid Agencies” category includes several Medicaid-billed services, grouped together by type of care under standardized HCPCS and CPT codes. For this report, a consistent approach to assigning billing codes to service categories was maintained—using uniform code prefixes and numerical ranges—so like services can be measured collectively without double counting, maintaining accuracy in comparisons over time.

Other Medicaid service categories posted payment increases, but the National Codes Established for State Medicaid Agencies category led Kensington in total Medicaid spending for 2024.

Statewide, in Maryland, this category was the fourth highest by payment amount that year.

Throughout the five years ending in 2024, Medicaid payments associated with this category in Kensington climbed by $2,738,650, a 318.7% rise. Some years, such as 2021 and 2020, saw pronounced annual growth in this Medicaid service area.

Payments for these services, while distributed citywide, were mainly concentrated in specific ZIP codes. The highest Medicaid payments were in ZIP code 20895, which reached $3,597,902 for this category in 2024. As a result, the leading ZIP code accounted for 100% of the Medicaid payments in Kensington under this service line that year.

Within the National Codes Established for State Medicaid Agencies services, most Medicaid payments were tied to only a select group of procedure codes.

By contrast, while payments for this category in Kensington jumped 83.4% from 2023 to 2024, overall Medicaid claims across all categories in the city increased only 2.7% during the period.

According to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, joint federal and state Medicaid expenditures reached roughly $871.7 billion in fiscal 2023, accounting for about 18% of total health spending nationwide—up from nearly $613.5 billion in 2019, prior to the COVID-19 pandemic.

This change reflects an overall increase of about 40% in only a few years, accelerated mostly by larger enrollment and increased service use during and after the pandemic period.

Recent federal budget changes during the Trump administration have included proposals to reduce Medicaid’s federal funding and make program reforms. For instance, the “One Big Beautiful Bill Act,” signed in 2025, is expected to decrease federal Medicaid expenditures by more than $1 trillion over 10 years and introduces policies such as work requirements and greater cost-sharing, potentially reducing benefits or access for some enrollees. These measures will likely shift more financial responsibility to states and dampen federal funding growth, though Medicaid will continue to support tens of millions across the nation.

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.