Strafford Medicaid payments for alcohol and drug abuse treatment up 13.4% in 2024

In 2024, Medicaid providers in Strafford collected $26,513 in payments for services labeled under the Alcohol and Drug Abuse Treatment category, based on data from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Medicaid Provider Spending database. This was a 13.4% rise from 2023, when claims for the same services totaled $23,390.

Medicaid is a public health insurance program managed by states with funding shared between federal and state governments. The program serves low-income families and individuals, older adults, children, and people with disabilities. It represents one of the largest segments of the U.S. health care sector.

Since taxpayer contributions fund Medicaid payments, changes in local billing activity indicate how public health care resources are distributed in the area.

The “Alcohol and Drug Abuse Treatment” category comprises Medicaid services defined by care type using standardized HCPCS and CPT codes. Each billing code included in this report is assigned to a single service grouping using uniform code prefixes and number ranges, allowing for consistent analytical comparisons without double counting.

Medicaid spending increased for a range of service categories, but Alcohol and Drug Abuse Treatment ranked as Strafford’s top category by total Medicaid payments in 2024.

At the state level in New Hampshire, the Alcohol and Drug Abuse Treatment category finished second by total Medicaid payments in 2024.

From five years prior to 2024, Medicaid payments linked to the Alcohol and Drug Abuse Treatment group in Strafford grew by $23,285, or 721.3%. Growth accelerated during select years, with sizable annual increases seen in 2023 and 2022.

Although these Medicaid expenditures were spread throughout the city, most payments occurred in just a handful of ZIP codes. In 2024, ZIP code 03884 was associated with $26,513 in Medicaid payments for the Alcohol and Drug Abuse Treatment category. The top ZIP code alone accounted for 100% of Medicaid spending for these services in Strafford during the year.

Within the Alcohol and Drug Abuse Treatment category, payments were highly concentrated among a small set of billing codes.

When compared to totals across all Medicaid claims in Strafford, payments linked to Alcohol and Drug Abuse Treatment increased by 13.4% from 2023 to 2024, whereas all claim categories collectively rose 15.1% during that time.

According to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, combined federal and state Medicaid expenditures totaled about $871.7 billion during fiscal year 2023—or around 18% of all health care spending nationwide—surging from roughly $613.5 billion in 2019 before the COVID-19 pandemic.

This reflects a rise of about 40% in just several years, mostly attributed to expanded enrollment and greater usage during and following the pandemic period.

Recent federal budget measures under the Trump administration featured major proposals to lower federal Medicaid funding and change how the program is structured. The “One Big Beautiful Bill Act,” signed into law in 2025, is expected to reduce federal Medicaid spending by more than $1 trillion over 10 years while establishing policies such as work requirements and increased cost-sharing that may reduce funding and coverage for some. These shifts are anticipated to move additional costs to states and restrict the rate at which federal support for Medicaid grows, though the program will continue to provide care for tens of millions in the U.S.

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.