Lakeland Medicaid vision service payments reach $598 in 2024, reflecting 24.6% rise

Data from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Medicaid Provider Spending database shows that Medicaid providers in Lakeland billed $598 for Vision Services in 2024. This amount represented a 24.6% increase over 2023, when the total was $480 for the same services.

Medicaid serves as a government-administered health insurance program, operated at the state level with funding from both state and federal sources. It provides coverage for low-income individuals and families, as well as seniors, children, and people with disabilities, making it one of the largest components of America’s health care landscape.

Since Medicaid is taxpayer-funded, shifts in local billing levels indicate how public health care resources are being used in a specific community.

The “Vision Services” category comprises Medicaid-billed services grouped by the type of care, employing standardized HCPCS and CPT coding structures. In this analysis, each billing code was mapped to a unique service group using consistent numerical and prefix identifiers, letting researchers examine related services together without overlap and maintain accurate rankings across years.

While Medicaid spending increased in several categories, Vision Services constituted the second-highest Medicaid payment total in Lakeland for 2024.

Statewide in Tennessee, payments for Vision Services ranked 19th among all Medicaid service categories in 2024.

Between the five years leading up to 2024, Medicaid payments associated with Vision Services in Lakeland grew by $598, or 0%. Certain intervals saw spending accelerate, including notable increases in both 2023 and 2022.

Although payments for Vision Services were distributed citywide, they were concentrated in a small number of ZIP codes. The top ZIP code in 2024 was 38002, with payments totaling $597. This ZIP code alone accounted for 100% of Medicaid payments for Vision Services in Lakeland that year.

Medicaid disbursements within Vision Services were also focused on a select group of individual billing codes.

To compare, payments tied to Vision Services in Lakeland increased 24.6% from 2023 to 2024, while all Medicaid claim categories in the city collectively grew by 57.5% during that span.

According to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, total federal and state Medicaid expenditures reached approximately $871.7 billion in fiscal year 2023, accounting for close to 18% of all U.S. health spending. This is a significant increase from $613.5 billion in 2019, before the COVID-19 pandemic.

This change amounts to roughly 40% growth over several years, primarily due to higher enrollment and utilization during and after the pandemic.

Federal budget measures during the Trump administration have included key proposals for reducing federal Medicaid funding and restructuring how the program operates. The “One Big Beautiful Bill Act,” signed in 2025, is forecasted to cut federal Medicaid spending by more than $1 trillion in the next decade, including new policies such as work requirements and higher cost-sharing, which could decrease coverage or funding for certain groups. These adjustments are set to increase state responsibilities and restrain federal Medicaid growth, even as the program remains a vital resource for tens of millions nationwide.

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.