El Paso Medicaid providers received $43,647,540 in 2024 for services listed in the Alcohol and Drug Abuse Treatment category, data from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Medicaid Provider Spending database shows. That figure represents a 5.9% uptick compared to 2023, when these services amounted to $41,205,899.
Medicaid, a jointly funded state and federal public health insurance program, covers low-income individuals and families, seniors, children, and people with disabilities, making it a major component of the U.S. health care system. Find out more on how it is financed at this explainer.
Since Medicaid financing relies on taxpayer funding, shifts in area billing patterns highlight how local public health budgets are distributed.
The Alcohol and Drug Abuse Treatment group comprises services categorized based on type of care, as defined through consistent HCPCS and CPT code groupings. For analytical purposes, each code falls under a unique service category, using standard code prefixes and number ranges to track related treatments while eliminating duplicate counts and ensuring accurate year-over-year rankings.
Alcohol and Drug Abuse Treatment was the third-largest service category by total Medicaid payments in El Paso for 2024, even as overall program spending grew across multiple categories.
At the statewide level, Alcohol and Drug Abuse Treatment was ranked fourth among Medicaid payment categories in Texas for 2024.
Between 2019 and 2024, Medicaid spending for Alcohol and Drug Abuse Treatment in El Paso jumped by $40,020,371, representing 1103.4% growth. The growth rate was especially strong in 2021 and 2020, which saw particularly notable increases year over year.
Spending for Alcohol and Drug Abuse Treatment services, though dispersed across El Paso, was concentrated in just a few ZIP codes. Notably, payments in 2024 were heaviest in ZIP code 79925, reaching $13,122,682, followed by 79906 at $6,767,599, and 79902 with $5,047,262. These three ZIP codes together accounted for 57.1% of all Medicaid payments in the category citywide that year.
Payments in this service category were further focused within a small set of individual Medicaid billing codes.
To put this into perspective, alcohol and drug abuse treatment services saw a 5.9% Medicaid payment increase in El Paso from 2023 to 2024. By comparison, Medicaid payments across all service categories in the city rose 3.4% during the same timeframe.
According to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, combined state and federal Medicaid costs totaled an estimated $871.7 billion for fiscal year 2023, making up about 18% of all U.S. health care expenditures. This is a significant spike from nearly $613.5 billion in 2019, prior to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The rise, roughly 40% in a few years, is due mostly to rising enrollment and increased health care service use during and after the pandemic.
Recent federal budgets under the Trump administration have featured proposed reductions to federal Medicaid support and program restructuring. For instance, the “One Big Beautiful Bill Act,” signed into law in 2025, is expected to reduce federal Medicaid spending by more than $1 trillion over the next 10 years. Its policy changes, such as work requirements and higher cost-sharing, could scale back coverage or funding for certain beneficiaries, putting more financial responsibility on states while restricting federal contributions, yet the program will continue to cover tens of millions nationwide.
| Year | Total Medicaid Payments | % Change From Previous Year |
|---|---|---|
| 2020 | $3,627,168 | 245.2% |
| 2021 | $14,339,576 | 295.3% |
| 2022 | $31,444,040 | 119.3% |
| 2023 | $41,205,898 | 31% |
| 2024 | $43,647,539 | 5.9% |
| Rank | Category | Medicaid Payments | Share of City Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Temporary National Codes (Non-Medicare) | $166,132,692 | 44.2% |
| 2 | Evaluation and Management | $55,289,901 | 14.7% |
| 3 | Alcohol and Drug Abuse Treatment | $43,647,539 | 11.6% |
| 4 | National Codes Established for State Medicaid Agencies | $39,963,659 | 10.6% |
| 5 | Medicine Services and Procedures | $29,663,153 | 7.9% |
| 6 | Dental Services | $12,426,996 | 3.3% |
| 7 | Pathology and Laboratory Procedures | $7,057,797 | 1.9% |
| 8 | Ambulance and Other Transport Services and Supplies | $5,934,183 | 1.6% |
| 9 | Radiology Procedures | $4,569,266 | 1.2% |
| 10 | Durable Medical Equipment | $2,441,142 | 0.6% |
| 11 | Medical And Surgical Supplies | $2,300,874 | 0.6% |
| 12 | Procedures / Professional Services | $2,038,229 | 0.5% |
| 13 | Surgery | $1,789,817 | 0.5% |
| 14 | Enteral and Parenteral Therapy | $1,227,162 | 0.3% |
| 15 | Drugs Administered Other than Oral Method | $475,259 | 0.1% |
| 16 | Vision Services | $467,778 | 0.1% |
| 17 | Coronavirus Diagnostic Panel | $269,086 | 0.1% |
| 18 | Anesthesia | $207,125 | 0.1% |
| 19 | Orthotic Procedures and services | $88,449 | <0.1% |
| 20 | Durable medical equipment (DME) Medicare administrative contractors (MACs) | $50,076 | <0.1% |
| 21 | Temporary Codes | $47,604 | <0.1% |
| 22 | Administrative, Miscellaneous and Investigational | $31,015 | <0.1% |
| 23 | Diagnostic Radiology Services | $10,483 | <0.1% |
| 24 | Miscellaneous Medical Services | $2,555 | <0.1% |
| 25 | Chemotherapy Drugs | $2,416 | <0.1% |
| 26 | Outpatient PPS | $1,022 | <0.1% |
| 27 | Pathology and Laboratory Services | $0 | <0.1% |
| HCPCS Code | Description | Medicaid Payments | Claims |
|---|---|---|---|
| H2016 | Comp comm supp svc, per diem | $21,871,730 | 71 |
| H2014 | Skills train and dev, 15 min | $15,192,031 | 365 |
| H2017 | Psysoc rehab svc, per 15 min | $3,860,470 | 115 |
| H0034 | Med trng & support per 15min | $859,138 | 136 |
| H2032 | Activity therapy, per 15 min | $571,956 | 23 |
| H0035 | Mh partial hosp tx under 24h | $475,227 | 9 |
| H0020 | Alcohol and/or drug services | $232,415 | 27 |
| H2012 | Behav hlth day treat, per hr | $164,151 | 9 |
| H0004 | Alcohol and/or drug services | $147,272 | 36 |
| H2019 | Ther behav svc, per 15 min | $102,395 | 25 |
| H2011 | Crisis interven svc, 15 min | $96,825 | 20 |
| H0005 | Alcohol and/or drug services | $53,194 | 9 |
| H0001 | Alcohol and/or drug assess | $11,944 | 14 |
| H2015 | Comp comm supp svc, 15 min | $8,431 | 1 |
| H0049 | Alcohol/drug screening | $354 | 4 |
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.
