Harwich Medicaid spending on Alcohol and Drug Abuse Treatment rises to $49,720 in 2024

In 2024, Medicaid providers in Harwich submitted $49,720 in claims for Alcohol and Drug Abuse Treatment services, according to data from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Medicaid Provider Spending database. This amount represented a 38.4% increase from 2023, when providers billed $35,923 for these services.

Medicaid, operated by states and jointly funded by federal and state governments, provides public health insurance coverage to low-income people, seniors, children, and individuals with disabilities. It remains a key component of the U.S. health care system. More information on Medicaid funding is available from the Commonwealth Fund.

Because taxpayer dollars fund Medicaid, local changes in billing can indicate how a community allocates its public health care resources.

The Alcohol and Drug Abuse Treatment category encompasses Medicaid-billed services defined by the type of care, using standardized HCPCS and CPT codes. For this review, each code was placed into a single service group, based on consistent prefixes and ranges, to assess related services, prevent duplicate counting, and ensure accurate rankings over time.

While Harwich experienced growth in a range of Medicaid service categories, Alcohol and Drug Abuse Treatment ranked fourth in total Medicaid payments in 2024.

Statewide, the Alcohol and Drug Abuse Treatment category was the third largest by Medicaid payments in Massachusetts in 2024.

Between 2019 and 2024, Harwich saw a $49,720 increase—equating to 0%—in Medicaid spending for Alcohol and Drug Abuse Treatment services. Growth was especially pronounced during certain periods, with significant year-over-year gains noted in 2022 and 2022.

Though these funds were expended throughout Harwich, a handful of ZIP codes accounted for most of the payments. In 2024, the 02645 ZIP code alone totaled $49,720, making up 100% of all Medicaid Alcohol and Drug Abuse Treatment payments in the city that year.

Payments within this treatment category were also concentrated among a limited set of billing codes.

For further context, Harwich’s 38.4% year-over-year increase for Alcohol and Drug Abuse Treatment was higher than the 32.8% change across all Medicaid claim categories in the city during the same period.

Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services data show combined federal and state Medicaid costs reached about $871.7 billion in 2023, making up roughly 18% of all U.S. health expenditures. This figure rose substantially from about $613.5 billion in 2019, just prior to the COVID-19 pandemic.

This marks an increase of close to 40% in only a few years, mostly due to rising enrollment and higher use of services during and after the pandemic.

Recent federal budget actions under the Trump administration included substantial efforts to cut federal Medicaid funding and alter the program. The “One Big Beautiful Bill Act,” signed into law in 2025, is expected to eliminate over $1 trillion in federal Medicaid funding over 10 years and introduce policies such as work requirements and expanded cost-sharing that could affect some recipients’ coverage and funding. These adjustments are projected to shift more costs to states and may restrict federal Medicaid support growth even as the program aids tens of millions of Americans.

Note: HCPCS codes are provided to illustrate the category’s services. Category totals and rankings are based on standardized groupings, not on individual billing codes.

The information in this article is sourced from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Medicaid Provider Spending database. Find the source data here.