Cranford Medicaid spending on Pathology and Laboratory Procedures climbs to $83,629 in 2024

In Cranford, Medicaid providers billed $83,629 for services categorized under Pathology and Laboratory Procedures in 2024, according to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Medicaid Provider Spending database. This figure represents a 66.5% jump from 2023, when providers claimed $50,229 for these services.

Medicaid is a public health insurance program administered by the states and funded together with support from federal and state governments. Covering low-income individuals and families, seniors, children, and people with disabilities, it stands as one of the largest programs in the U.S. health care system.

Because Medicaid relies on taxpayer funds, local billing trends highlight how public health care resources are distributed within communities.

The “Pathology and Laboratory Procedures” classification includes a set of Medicaid-billed services defined by care type, relying on specific HCPCS and CPT codes. For this analysis, each code was assigned to a distinct service category using standardized code prefixes and ranges. This process helped group like services correctly, minimizing duplicate entries and ensuring accurate category rankings over time.

Although multiple service categories saw greater Medicaid spending, Pathology and Laboratory Procedures was the sixth-highest in Cranford based on total Medicaid payments in 2024.

Across New Jersey, Pathology and Laboratory Procedures also ranked sixth among all Medicaid payment groups in 2024.

Between 2020 and 2024, Medicaid payments for the Pathology and Laboratory Procedures group in Cranford increased by $58,194, or 228.8%. Certain periods saw especially rapid growth, including notable year-to-year increases in 2022 and 2021.

While the funds paid for Pathology and Laboratory Procedures were distributed throughout Cranford, payments were primarily concentrated within a small number of ZIP codes. In 2024, ZIP code 07016 accounted for $83,628, representing 100% of all Medicaid spending on Pathology and Laboratory Procedures in the city for the year.

Within this service category, Medicaid payments were further focused among a small group of individual billing codes.

To compare, from 2023 to 2024, Medicaid spending on Pathology and Laboratory Procedures in Cranford increased by 66.5%, whereas the growth rate for all Medicaid claim types in the city was 10.1% over the same period.

According to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, federal and state Medicaid spending combined reached about $871.7 billion in fiscal year 2023. This total accounts for roughly 18% of all national health expenditures, a steep increase from around $613.5 billion in 2019, prior to the COVID-19 pandemic.

This growth equals an increase of about 40% over a few years, influenced largely by expanded coverage and increased medical utilization during and post-pandemic.

Recent federal budget measures enacted under the Trump administration have introduced substantial reductions in federal Medicaid spending and program restructuring. The “One Big Beautiful Bill Act,” signed into law in 2025, is expected to reduce federal Medicaid outlays by more than $1 trillion over the next 10 years while instituting new measures such as work requirements and higher cost-sharing. These policies may reduce benefits and funding for certain enrollees and are projected to increase states’ fiscal responsibilities while restricting future federal spending growth, yet the program continues to cover tens of millions of Americans.

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.