In 2024, Los Angeles Medicaid providers billed a total of $38,190,827 for services under the Dental Services category, according to figures from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Medicaid Provider Spending database. This figure reflects a 3% increase from 2023, when $37,080,612 was billed for the same service category.
Medicaid is a state-administered public health insurance program funded jointly by federal and state governments. It provides coverage for low-income individuals and families, seniors, children, and people with disabilities, making it one of the biggest components of the U.S. health care system.
Because Medicaid relies on taxpayer funding, shifts in local billing help illustrate how public health dollars are spent within communities.
The “Dental Services” category groups Medicaid-billed procedures according to the type of care, relying on standardized HCPCS and CPT code frameworks. For this analysis, codes were assigned to a single service group, using consistent code prefixes and numeric sequences, to analyze related services together and maintain accurate counts and rankings over time.
While Medicaid spending increased across several categories, Dental Services ranked 10th for total Medicaid payments in Los Angeles in 2024.
Statewide in California, the Dental Services category ranked 11th by total payments for 2024.
From 2019 through 2024, Medicaid payments for Dental Services in Los Angeles rose by $18,762,436, or 96.6%. Spending growth was faster during certain stretches, with significant annual increases seen in both 2022 and 2021.
Although Dental Services payments were made citywide, the highest concentrations were in a few ZIP codes. The largest Medicaid Dental Services payments by ZIP code during 2024 were 90036 at $3,436,171, 90057 with $2,520,526, and 90022 reporting $2,210,897. Combined, these 3 ZIP codes made up 21.4% of all Medicaid Dental Services payments in Los Angeles that year.
Within Dental Services, Medicaid payments were also focused among a small set of billing codes.
Comparatively, from 2023 to 2024, Medicaid Dental Services payments in Los Angeles grew by 3%, whereas total Medicaid claims across all categories in the city changed by 12.9% in the same timeframe.
According to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, combined federal and state Medicaid spending reached approximately $871.7 billion in fiscal year 2023, representing about 18% of national health care expenditures. This total is a sharp rise from $613.5 billion in 2019, prior to the COVID-19 pandemic.
This 40% growth over several years was chiefly driven by expanded enrollment and increased use of services during and after the pandemic.
Recent federal budget measures under the Trump administration have introduced major proposals to reduce federal Medicaid contributions and overhaul the program. The “One Big Beautiful Bill Act,” enacted in 2025, is expected to trim more than $1 trillion from federal Medicaid spending over the coming decade and adds policies such as work requirements and greater cost-sharing by beneficiaries. These adjustments are projected to increase financial responsibility for states and may restrict federal Medicaid funding growth, even as the program supports tens of millions of Americans.
| Year | Total Medicaid Payments | % Change From Previous Year |
|---|---|---|
| 2020 | $19,428,390 | -34.2% |
| 2021 | $24,729,857 | 27.3% |
| 2022 | $35,261,142 | 42.6% |
| 2023 | $37,080,612 | 5.2% |
| 2024 | $38,190,827 | 3% |
| Rank | Category | Medicaid Payments | Share of City Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | National Codes Established for State Medicaid Agencies | $569,995,717 | 26.5% |
| 2 | Medicine Services and Procedures | $398,580,366 | 18.5% |
| 3 | Alcohol and Drug Abuse Treatment | $359,235,604 | 16.7% |
| 4 | Evaluation and Management | $269,652,307 | 12.5% |
| 5 | Temporary National Codes (Non-Medicare) | $140,525,379 | 6.5% |
| 6 | Procedures / Professional Services | $85,635,112 | 4% |
| 7 | Radiology Procedures | $78,051,848 | 3.6% |
| 8 | Pathology and Laboratory Procedures | $73,729,299 | 3.4% |
| 9 | Anesthesia | $56,555,584 | 2.6% |
| 10 | Dental Services | $38,190,827 | 1.8% |
| 11 | Ambulance and Other Transport Services and Supplies | $19,073,838 | 0.9% |
| 12 | Surgery | $16,031,718 | 0.7% |
| 13 | Drugs Administered Other than Oral Method | $10,971,030 | 0.5% |
| 14 | Temporary Codes | $10,901,505 | 0.5% |
| 15 | Medical And Surgical Supplies | $6,626,671 | 0.3% |
| 16 | Chemotherapy Drugs | $4,580,181 | 0.2% |
| 17 | Durable Medical Equipment | $4,518,507 | 0.2% |
| 18 | Vision Services | $1,246,414 | 0.1% |
| 19 | Hearing Services | $1,235,353 | 0.1% |
| 20 | Administrative, Miscellaneous and Investigational | $913,883 | <0.1% |
| 21 | Enteral and Parenteral Therapy | $881,282 | <0.1% |
| 22 | Outpatient PPS | $520,140 | <0.1% |
| 23 | Pathology and Laboratory Services | $333,333 | <0.1% |
| 24 | Coronavirus Diagnostic Panel | $286,451 | <0.1% |
| 25 | Orthotic Procedures and services | $258,444 | <0.1% |
| 26 | Durable medical equipment (DME) Medicare administrative contractors (MACs) | $246,641 | <0.1% |
| 27 | Prosthetic Procedures | $103,990 | <0.1% |
| 28 | Diagnostic Radiology Services | $17,411 | <0.1% |
| 29 | Other Services | $0 | <0.1% |
| HCPCS Code | Description | Medicaid Payments | Claims |
|---|---|---|---|
| D0120 | Periodic oral evaluation | $14,948,157 | 3,671 |
| D0150 | Comprehensve oral evaluation | $8,391,493 | 3,216 |
| D0230 | Intraoral periapical ea add | $4,804,492 | 4,127 |
| D0210 | Intraor comprehensive series | $2,476,285 | 1,734 |
| D0274 | Bitewings four images | $1,611,410 | 2,270 |
| D0350 | Oral/facial photo images | $1,313,999 | 1,709 |
| D0272 | Dental bitewings two images | $1,192,872 | 1,874 |
| D0220 | Intraoral periapical first | $968,262 | 2,168 |
| D0145 | Oral evaluation, pt < 3yrs | $710,073 | 414 |
| D0603 | Caries risk assess high risk | $664,824 | 1,123 |
| D0330 | Panoramic image | $552,111 | 541 |
| D0340 | 2d cephalometric image | $160,505 | 74 |
| D0140 | Limit oral eval problm focus | $127,820 | 117 |
| D0160 | Extensv oral eval prob focus | $90,373 | 29 |
| D0170 | Re-eval,est pt,problem focus | $54,478 | 12 |
| D0602 | Caries risk assess mod risk | $52,625 | 200 |
| D0601 | Caries risk assess low risk | $30,083 | 129 |
| D0502 | Other oral pathology procedu | $27,280 | 14 |
| D0270 | Dental bitewing single image | $7,892 | 40 |
| D0470 | Diagnostic casts | $5,565 | 5 |
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.
