Long Beach Medicaid providers billed $4,789,129 for Dental Services in 2024, data from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Medicaid Provider Spending database shows. That figure represents a 1.6% raise compared to 2023, when providers submitted $4,715,771 in claims for the same service category.
Medicaid, a public health insurance program operated by the states and funded jointly with federal support, serves low-income individuals and families, seniors, children and people with disabilities. It remains one of the largest components of the U.S. health care landscape.
As taxpayer funds support Medicaid payments, fluctuations in local billing indicate how public health resources are allocated within the community.
The “Dental Services” category represents a segment of Medicaid spending defined by the type of care provided and tracked by standardized HCPCS and CPT groupings. For this report, billing codes were mapped to individual service categories based on standardized prefixes and number ranges, allowing similar services to be assessed without double counting, helping to keep rankings accurate over time.
While Medicaid totals rose across various service categories, Dental Services placed ninth in Long Beach by total payments in 2024.
The Dental Services category ranked as the 11th largest by total Medicaid payments statewide in California in 2024.
Between 2019 and 2024, Medicaid spending for Dental Services in Long Beach rose by $1,997,650, equal to an increase of 71.6%. Growth in spending accelerated in certain years, especially in 2022 and 2021.
Across Long Beach, Dental Services spending in 2024 was concentrated in a few ZIP codes. The ZIP codes with the highest Medicaid Dental Services payments included 90806, at $1,800,303; 90813, with $1,292,460; and 90805, at $484,332. These three ZIP codes together accounted for 74.7% of all Dental Services Medicaid payments in Long Beach for the year.
Within the Dental Services category, a small number of billing codes accounted for the majority of Medicaid reimbursement.
Comparatively, Long Beach’s 1.6% rise in Dental Services Medicaid spending from 2023 to 2024 contrasts with a 21.9% increase seen across all Medicaid claims categories citywide during that period.
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services report that total federal and state Medicaid spending reached about $871.7 billion in fiscal year 2023, making up about 18% of national health expenditures. That rose significantly from around $613.5 billion in 2019, ahead of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Spending has grown some 40% over the span of a few years, due primarily to enrollment expansions and higher usage during and following the pandemic era.
Recent changes to the federal budget under the Trump administration have introduced major initiatives to curtail federal Medicaid expenditures and restructure program funding. The “One Big Beautiful Bill Act,” signed into law in 2025, is anticipated to cut more than $1 trillion in federal Medicaid funding throughout the next 10 years and applies measures like work requirements and higher cost-sharing, expected to reduce coverage and available funding for certain enrollees. As a result, a greater share of costs may shift to states, and growth in federal support for Medicaid could slow, even though the program continues to cover tens of millions nationwide.
| Year | Total Medicaid Payments | % Change From Previous Year |
|---|---|---|
| 2020 | $2,791,478 | -17.1% |
| 2021 | $3,637,107 | 30.3% |
| 2022 | $4,747,733 | 30.5% |
| 2023 | $4,715,771 | -0.7% |
| 2024 | $4,789,128 | 1.6% |
| Rank | Category | Medicaid Payments | Share of City Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | National Codes Established for State Medicaid Agencies | $55,869,007 | 36.8% |
| 2 | Evaluation and Management | $21,021,272 | 13.8% |
| 3 | Medicine Services and Procedures | $20,609,800 | 13.6% |
| 4 | Alcohol and Drug Abuse Treatment | $10,926,344 | 7.2% |
| 5 | Anesthesia | $10,159,224 | 6.7% |
| 6 | Temporary National Codes (Non-Medicare) | $7,497,491 | 4.9% |
| 7 | Procedures / Professional Services | $6,020,473 | 4% |
| 8 | Pathology and Laboratory Procedures | $5,996,675 | 3.9% |
| 9 | Dental Services | $4,789,128 | 3.2% |
| 10 | Radiology Procedures | $3,459,890 | 2.3% |
| 11 | Ambulance and Other Transport Services and Supplies | $2,182,045 | 1.4% |
| 12 | Surgery | $1,638,589 | 1.1% |
| 13 | Drugs Administered Other than Oral Method | $908,979 | 0.6% |
| 14 | Enteral and Parenteral Therapy | $266,704 | 0.2% |
| 15 | Administrative, Miscellaneous and Investigational | $200,375 | 0.1% |
| 16 | Medical And Surgical Supplies | $98,212 | 0.1% |
| 17 | Orthotic Procedures and services | $97,481 | 0.1% |
| 18 | Temporary Codes | $84,071 | 0.1% |
| 19 | Vision Services | $74,800 | <0.1% |
| 20 | Chemotherapy Drugs | $36,000 | <0.1% |
| 21 | Pathology and Laboratory Services | $25,308 | <0.1% |
| 22 | Coronavirus Diagnostic Panel | $769 | <0.1% |
| HCPCS Code | Description | Medicaid Payments | Claims |
|---|---|---|---|
| D0120 | Periodic oral evaluation | $1,781,055 | 609 |
| D0150 | Comprehensve oral evaluation | $1,036,495 | 552 |
| D0230 | Intraoral periapical ea add | $650,133 | 745 |
| D0210 | Intraor comprehensive series | $451,821 | 392 |
| D0274 | Bitewings four images | $196,223 | 360 |
| D0350 | Oral/facial photo images | $191,752 | 308 |
| D0272 | Dental bitewings two images | $132,831 | 312 |
| D0603 | Caries risk assess high risk | $110,338 | 143 |
| D0220 | Intraoral periapical first | $94,814 | 229 |
| D0145 | Oral evaluation, pt < 3yrs | $55,462 | 41 |
| D0330 | Panoramic image | $53,058 | 103 |
| D0140 | Limit oral eval problm focus | $15,890 | 28 |
| D0601 | Caries risk assess low risk | $9,528 | 40 |
| D0602 | Caries risk assess mod risk | $6,470 | 30 |
| D0340 | 2d cephalometric image | $2,000 | 3 |
| D0160 | Extensv oral eval prob focus | $700 | 1 |
| D0270 | Dental bitewing single image | $555 | 10 |
| D0801 | 3d intraoral scan direct | $0 | 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.
