Barling Medicaid spending for alcohol and drug abuse treatment services surges to $36,015 in 2024

In 2024, Medicaid providers in Barling billed a total of $36,015 for Alcohol and Drug Abuse Treatment services, based on data from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Medicaid Provider Spending database. This amount marks a 1087.4% jump from 2023, when claims for these services totaled $3,033.

Medicaid, funded by both federal and state governments and administered by the states, is a public insurance program that provides health coverage to low-income individuals and families, seniors, children, and those with disabilities. This makes it one of the largest components of the U.S. health care system. More information is available at the Commonwealth Fund.

Since Medicaid is supported by taxpayer funding, shifts in local billing help illustrate how communities allocate public health care resources.

The “Alcohol and Drug Abuse Treatment” service group represents Medicaid-billed care coded by standardized HCPCS and CPT groupings. For the purposes of this review, distinct billing codes were assigned to a single service category based on their prefix and number ranges, ensuring accuracy in how related services are counted and ranked over time.

Although Medicaid expenditures increased in several categories in Barling, Alcohol and Drug Abuse Treatment was the city’s second largest service by Medicaid spending in 2024.

Statewide in Arkansas, Alcohol and Drug Abuse Treatment was the third largest Medicaid payment category for 2024.

Looking back over the five years ending in 2024, Medicaid spending for Alcohol and Drug Abuse Treatment in Barling climbed by $36,015, equivalent to a 0% net change. Notable increases took place during certain years, especially in 2022 and 2023.

While spending was distributed around Barling, Medicaid payments for the category were mostly concentrated in a small number of ZIP codes. In 2024, ZIP code 72923 accounted for $36,014, representing 100% of all Medicaid payments in this service group throughout the city for the year.

These payments were also mostly attributable to a select few Medicaid billing codes within the Alcohol and Drug Abuse Treatment category.

By comparison, Medicaid spending in Barling for Alcohol and Drug Abuse Treatment grew 1087.4% from 2023 to 2024, while payments across all Medicaid claim categories in the city increased by just 0.1% during the same timeframe.

According to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, combined federal and state Medicaid spending reached about $871.7 billion in fiscal year 2023, making up nearly 18% of total U.S. health costs. This marks a sharp increase from $613.5 billion in 2019, before the COVID-19 pandemic.

This increase reflects approximately 40% growth in only a few years, attributed mainly to broader enrollment and greater service use during and after the pandemic.

Recent federal budget measures enacted during the Trump administration proposed significant cuts to federal Medicaid funding and program restructuring. The “One Big Beautiful Bill Act,” which became law in 2025, is estimated to reduce federal Medicaid spending by more than $1 trillion over 10 years and adds new policies like work requirements and increased cost-sharing, potentially reducing coverage and funding for some recipients. As a result, more costs are expected to shift to states and limit federal Medicaid growth, though the program still serves millions of people across the country.

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.