Santa Fe Medicaid providers billed $81,798 for COVID-19 services in 2024

Santa Fe Medicaid providers submitted claims totaling at least $81,798 for services using HCPCS codes directly related to COVID-19 in 2024, according to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Medicaid Provider Spending database.

Medicaid is a government health insurance program managed at the state level and supported with both federal and state funds. The program offers coverage to eligible low-income individuals, families, children, seniors, and people with disabilities, making it one of the nation’s largest health insurance plans.

As Medicaid spending comes from public funds, shifts in local billing patterns reflect how health care resources are distributed within a community.

For the purposes of this report, COVID-19–related services were identified by selecting HCPCS codes with billing descriptions or reference data specifically containing “COVID-19” or “coronavirus.” Therefore, these figures represent only services labeled as COVID-19 in billing, not all care provided during the pandemic that may have used other codes.

In comparison, Albuquerque reported the highest total of Medicaid payments for COVID-19 services in New Mexico for 2024, with $958,608 in claims.

Santa Fe saw 11 providers file Medicaid claims for COVID-19–related care in 2024. The most heavily billed code was COVID Specific, accounting for $72,752.

Santa Fe providers averaged $7,436 in Medicaid payments for COVID-19–labeled services, below the New Mexico statewide provider average of $34,302.

Across all other claim types, total Medicaid spending in Santa Fe grew by $14,765,075 between 2020 and 2024, an increase of 25.2%.

In the two years prior to the pandemic, Santa Fe averaged $61,751,428 in annual Medicaid payments.

Data from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services shows combined federal and state Medicaid expenditures reached about $871.7 billion in fiscal 2023. That represented about 18% of national health care outlays and a significant rise from about $613.5 billion spent in 2019 before COVID-19.

This 40% increase over several years was mainly the result of higher enrollment and usage during and following the pandemic.

Recent federal budget measures from the Trump administration have put forward major federal Medicaid spending reductions and program changes. For instance, the “One Big Beautiful Bill Act,” enacted in 2025, plans to cut federal Medicaid funding by more than $1 trillion over the next decade, adding work requirements and raising cost-sharing, changes that could decrease some beneficiaries’ coverage and shift more costs to states as overall federal support slows while the program continues to serve millions.

Note: Includes HCPCS codes explicitly labeled for COVID-19 services; totals do not represent all pandemic-related health care spending.

The data in this report was sourced from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Medicaid Provider Spending database, available here.