In 2024, Medicaid providers in Wheat Ridge billed $1,746,642 for services under the Vision Services category, data from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Medicaid Provider Spending database shows. This total is up 37.9% compared with 2023, when claims for the same services reached $1,266,412.
Medicaid provides public health insurance through state programs jointly funded by federal and state governments. It serves low-income individuals and families, along with seniors, children, and people with disabilities, making it one of the largest parts of the nation’s health care system.
Because taxpayer funds support Medicaid payments, shifts in local billing reflect how community health care dollars are allocated.
The “Vision Services” category represents Medicaid-billed services grouped by the type of care provided, as classified by standardized HCPCS and CPT code groupings. For this analysis, each billing code was placed into a single service category based on defined code prefixes and numerical ranges to group related services and maintain accurate rankings while avoiding double counting.
Vision Services was the fifth-largest Medicaid spending category in Wheat Ridge in 2024, while Medicaid spending rose across a variety of categories.
At the state level in Colorado, Vision Services placed ninth by total Medicaid payments in 2024.
From 2019 through 2024, Medicaid payments for Vision Services in Wheat Ridge rose by $1,276,781, or 271.7%. Certain years saw accelerated spending growth, including notable spikes in 2021 and 2023.
Medicaid payments for Vision Services spanned Wheat Ridge but were mainly concentrated in a small set of ZIP codes. In 2024, ZIP code 80033 accounted for $1,560,642, while 80212 represented $185,999 in Vision Services Medicaid payments. Together, these ZIP codes made up 100% of all such Medicaid payments in the city that year.
Within the Vision Services group, a select group of billing codes accounted for most Medicaid payments.
Between 2023 and 2024, Medicaid payments for Vision Services in Wheat Ridge increased by 37.9%, while all Medicaid categories combined grew by 4.9% in the city during the same period.
According to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, combined federal and state Medicaid expenditures reached about $871.7 billion in fiscal year 2023, representing around 18% of all national health spending. This was a sharp rise from roughly $613.5 billion in 2019, prior to the COVID-19 pandemic.
This nearly 40% growth over several years was largely due to increased enrollment and greater utilization during and after the pandemic period.
Recent federal budget measures adopted during the Trump administration included major proposals to reduce federal Medicaid funding and reshape the program. For instance, the “One Big Beautiful Bill Act,” enacted in 2025, is expected to cut over $1 trillion from federal Medicaid spending over 10 years. The legislation also introduces work requirements and higher cost-sharing, policies that could reduce coverage and funding for some beneficiaries. As a result, states are likely to face additional costs and limits on federal Medicaid support, even as the program continues to provide for tens of millions of Americans.
| Year | Total Medicaid Payments | % Change From Previous Year |
|---|---|---|
| 2020 | $469,861 | -15.5% |
| 2021 | $820,584 | 74.6% |
| 2022 | $898,670 | 9.5% |
| 2023 | $1,266,412 | 40.9% |
| 2024 | $1,746,641 | 37.9% |
| Rank | Category | Medicaid Payments | Share of City Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | National Codes Established for State Medicaid Agencies | $25,749,689 | 55% |
| 2 | Evaluation and Management | $8,141,723 | 17.4% |
| 3 | Medicine Services and Procedures | $5,362,538 | 11.5% |
| 4 | Alcohol and Drug Abuse Treatment | $3,756,702 | 8% |
| 5 | Vision Services | $1,746,641 | 3.7% |
| 6 | Dental Services | $1,000,793 | 2.1% |
| 7 | Temporary National Codes (Non-Medicare) | $594,622 | 1.3% |
| 8 | Procedures / Professional Services | $203,617 | 0.4% |
| 9 | Pathology and Laboratory Procedures | $137,149 | 0.3% |
| 10 | Radiology Procedures | $79,402 | 0.2% |
| 11 | Surgery | $46,521 | 0.1% |
| 12 | Temporary Codes | $9,409 | <0.1% |
| 13 | Durable Medical Equipment | $2,902 | <0.1% |
| 14 | Medical And Surgical Supplies | $2,276 | <0.1% |
| 15 | Drugs Administered Other than Oral Method | $0 | <0.1% |
| HCPCS Code | Description | Medicaid Payments | Claims |
|---|---|---|---|
| V2410 | Lens variab asphericity sing | $809,678 | 89 |
| V2784 | Lens polycarb or equal | $365,945 | 97 |
| V2020 | Vision svcs frames purchases | $203,446 | 84 |
| V2750 | Anti-reflective coating | $126,993 | 81 |
| V2103 | Spherocylindr 4.00d/12-2.00d | $91,976 | 54 |
| V2104 | Spherocylindr 4.00d/2.12-4d | $62,775 | 42 |
| V2755 | Uv lens/es | $36,234 | 32 |
| V2025 | Eyeglasses delux frames | $28,933 | 20 |
| V2100 | Lens spher single plano 4.00 | $6,694 | 5 |
| V2107 | Spherocylinder 4.25d/12-2d | $5,673 | 5 |
| V2105 | Spherocylinder 4.00d/4.25-6d | $3,498 | 3 |
| V2430 | Lens variable asphericity bi | $2,921 | 1 |
| V2108 | Spherocylinder 4.25d/2.12-4d | $1,868 | 1 |
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.
