Akron reports $7,499,973 in Medicaid-funded COVID-19 care in 2024

At least $7,499,973 in Medicaid payments were issued in Akron in 2024 for services under HCPCS codes linked to COVID-19, according to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Medicaid Provider Spending database. This total marks a 673% rise compared with 2023, when those codes accounted for $970,258 in submitted claims.

Medicaid is a public health insurance initiative managed at the state level and financed through combined federal and state resources. The program serves low-income people, seniors, children, and people with disabilities and is one of the largest sectors in the U.S. health care system.

Since taxpayer funding supports Medicaid, trends in local billing show how public funds for health care are divided within the community.

To produce this analysis, only those HCPCS codes in billing and reference data that were described or classified as “COVID-19” or “coronavirus”-related were counted. That means the figures only include services explicitly billed as COVID-19-related and do not reflect any pandemic care coded under broader or less specific medical categories.

For reference, Marion reported the highest Medicaid spending for COVID-19–related care within Ohio in 2024, posting $10,818,404 in claims with those codes.

Nine providers in Akron filed Medicaid claims for COVID-19–specific procedures in 2024. The COVID Specific code was among the most frequently billed, accounting for $7,389,972.

On average, Medicaid providers in Akron were paid $833,330 for COVID-19–related services, a figure above the state average of $119,792.

COVID-19–related services generated a significant share of growth in Medicaid spending in Akron throughout the pandemic period.

Total Medicaid spending for all other types of claims in Akron increased by $160,677,203 from 2020 to 2024, which is a growth of 101.2%.

In the two years before the pandemic, Akron’s average annual Medicaid payments amounted to $150,219,820.

According to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, combined Medicaid outlays from federal and state sources hit around $871.7 billion for the 2023 fiscal year, making up about 18% of national health spending. This marked a significant increase from $613.5 billion in 2019 before the COVID-19 crisis.

These figures reflect a jump of about 40% over a few years, attributed primarily to increased enrollment and utilization rates linked to the pandemic period.

Recent budget measures enacted during the Trump administration have proposed cutting federal Medicaid funds and altering program structures. The “One Big Beautiful Bill Act,” enacted in 2025, is set to reduce federal Medicaid funding by over $1 trillion over the coming decade, instituting work requirements and more cost-sharing measures that could mean reduced coverage and federal financial support for some recipients. As a result, greater financial responsibility for Medicaid may shift to states even as enrollment remains high.

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

Data for this report were sourced from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Medicaid Provider Spending database. Source materials are available here.