A0429
Ambulance, BLS emergency transport
Ambulance, BLS emergency transport is the #30 most-billed Medicaid procedure code, with $6.06B in payments across 31.0M claims from 2018–2024. The national median cost per claim is $138.19. Costs vary widely — the 90th percentile is $282.20 per claim, 2.0× the median.
Total Paid
$6.06B
0.55% of all spending
Total Claims
31.0M
Providers
6K
Avg Cost/Claim
$195
National Cost Distribution
How much do providers bill per claim for A0429? Based on 6K providers billing this code nationally.
Median
$138.19
Average
$196.47
Std Dev
$383.05
Max
$13,639.97
Percentile Distribution (Cost per Claim)
50% of providers bill between $76.94 and $195.78 per claim for this code.
90% bill between $51.57 and $282.20.
Top 1% bill above $1,472.06.
About This Procedure
HCPCS code A0429 (Ambulance, BLS emergency transport) was billed by 6K providers across 31.0M claims, totaling $6.06B in Medicaid payments from 2018–2024. This code was used for 25.2M unique beneficiaries.
Fraud Risk Context
Ambulance transport codes are a known fraud vector — the OIG has documented schemes involving unnecessary transports and kickbacks.
Source: HHS OIG Reports
Risk Assessment
Billing Statistics
Median Cost/Claim
$138.19
Providers Billing
6K
National Spending
$6.06B
Avg/Median Ratio
1.42×
Normal distribution
Top Providers Billing This Code
Ranked by total Medicaid payments for A0429
| # | Provider | Total Paid |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | City Of Chicago Chicago, IL · Ambulance | $345.4M |
| 2 | New York City Health And Hospitals Corporation Brooklyn, NY · Ambulance, Land Transport | $271.2M |
| 3 | Government Of The District Of Columbia Office Of Tax And Revenue Washington, DC · Ambulance Land Transport | $135.6M |
| 4 | Gold Cross Services Inc. Salt Lake City, UT · Ambulance Land Transport | $86.3M |
| 5 | Hennepin Healthcare System Inc Minneapolis, MN · General Acute Care Hospital | $78.1M |
| 6 | 1255468435 | $75.9M |
| 7 | 1124342282 | $60.7M |
| 8 | Southwest Ambulance Of Tucson Inc Tucson, AZ · Ambulance Land Transport | $60.6M |
| 9 | American Medical Response Of Connecticut Incorporated New Haven, CT · Ambulance, Land Transport | $60.5M |
| 10 | City Of Phoenix Arizona Phoenix, AZ · Emergency Medical Technician Paramedic | $56.8M |
| 11 | 1265542765 | $54.7M |
| 12 | City Of Los Angeles Los Angeles, CA · Ambulance | $53.6M |
| 13 | The Health And Hospital Corporation Of Marion County Indianapolis, IN · Psychiatric Unit | $44.4M |
| 14 | Falck Mobile Health Corp Orange, CA · Ambulance, Land Transport | $42.8M |
| 15 | City Of Rockford Rockford, IL · Ambulance, Land Transport | $39.0M |
| 16 | Acadian Ambulance Service Inc. Lafayette, LA · Ambulance Air Transport | $37.7M |
| 17 | 1477599900 | $35.7M |
| 18 | 1952386153 | $33.2M |
| 19 | Falck Northern California Corp. Hayward, CA · Ambulance | $31.3M |
| 20 | Jersey City Medical Center Jersey City, NJ · General Acute Care Hospital | $29.6M |
Showing top 20 of 6K providers billing this code