Lacona Medicaid alcohol and drug abuse treatment payments climb to $678,311 in 2024

In 2024, Medicaid providers in Lacona received $678,311 for services categorized as Alcohol and Drug Abuse Treatment, according to figures from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Medicaid Provider Spending database. This reflects a 25.8% rise compared to 2023, when provider claims for these services reached $539,380.

Medicaid, a public insurance program managed by individual states and funded through state and federal resources, covers low-income residents, seniors, children, and people with disabilities. It is one of the largest segments of the health care system in the United States.

Since Medicaid expenditures are taxpayer-funded, shifts in local spending reflect how community public health dollars are used.

The “Alcohol and Drug Abuse Treatment” service group in Medicaid refers to a set of services defined by specific care types, determined with standardized HCPCS and CPT code ranges. For this reporting, each billing code was sorted into one service category by matching consistent code prefixes and numbers. This enabled accurate, non-duplicative tracking and ranking of similar services across time frames.

Alcohol and Drug Abuse Treatment was the top Medicaid payment category in Lacona for 2024, even as spending grew across several categories.

At the state level, Alcohol and Drug Abuse Treatment also led all Medicaid payment categories in Iowa in 2024.

During the five years preceding 2024, Medicaid payments in Lacona connected to Alcohol and Drug Abuse Treatment services rose by $29,350, or 4.5%. Some time periods saw more rapid growth, with especially notable annual increases reported in 2020 and 2023.

Although Alcohol and Drug Abuse Treatment payments were made throughout Lacona, a small group of ZIP codes received the majority of funds. In 2024, ZIP code 50139 accounted for $678,311—the entire total tied to this treatment category in the city.

The distribution of Medicaid payments within the Alcohol and Drug Abuse Treatment category was concentrated among only a few billing codes.

Payments for Alcohol and Drug Abuse Treatment in Lacona climbed 25.8% between 2024 and 2023, mirroring the 25.8% growth seen across all local Medicaid claim categories during this time frame.

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services report federal and state Medicaid spending totaled about $871.7 billion in fiscal 2023, which made up approximately 18% of national health expenditures, representing a sharp rise from the approximately $613.5 billion reported for 2019, prior to COVID-19 public health disruptions.

This gain equates to roughly 40% growth over several years, most of which can be attributed to increased enrollment and service utilization during and after the pandemic.

Recent federal budgets under the Trump administration have included proposals aiming to reduce federal Medicaid payments and shift the program’s structure. The “One Big Beautiful Bill Act,” signed into law in 2025, is expected to reduce federal Medicaid funding by more than $1 trillion over 10 years and implement policies like work requirements and increased cost-sharing for some recipients. These changes are projected to shift more expenses to individual states and may constrain federal support, even as the program continues to cover tens of millions of Americans.

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.