Santa Ana Medicaid providers billed $10,336,296 for dental services in 2024, based on data from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Medicaid Provider Spending database. This represented a 5.8% increase over 2023, when dental claims totaled $9,768,719.
Medicaid, a joint program between federal and state governments, provides public health insurance for low-income people, seniors, children, and those with disabilities, making it a major component of the U.S. health care system. More information is available from the Commonwealth Fund.
Because Medicaid is publicly funded, local billing data reveals how health care resources are deployed throughout communities.
The Dental Services category groups Medicaid-billed care by service type under recognized HCPCS and CPT codes. For this report, each code was assigned to a specific service type using standard code prefixes and ranges, ensuring related procedures could be tracked together, with no overlap or double counting in the analysis.
Dental Services was the sixth-largest Medicaid payment category in Santa Ana in 2024, amid overall increases across several service types.
Statewide in California, Dental Services was the 11th-highest category for total Medicaid payments in 2024.
Between 2019 and 2024, Medicaid dental payments in Santa Ana grew by $5,814,851, a 128.6% gain. This period included especially strong year-over-year growth in 2021 and 2022.
While dental service spending was distributed throughout Santa Ana, much of it was concentrated in a few ZIP codes. In 2024, payments in ZIP code 92704 reached $3,338,348, while 92701 saw $2,755,145, and 92703 recorded $1,673,361. Combined, these three ZIP codes made up 75.1% of all Medicaid dental payments in the city for the year.
Within dental services, payments were further focused on a small set of billing codes.
Medicaid dental service spending in Santa Ana increased by 5.8% from 2023 to 2024. For context, payments for all Medicaid claims in the city rose by 11.9% during the same period.
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services reports that combined federal and state Medicaid spending totaled about $871.7 billion in fiscal year 2023, accounting for roughly 18% of total U.S. health expenditures. This is a substantial jump from $613.5 billion in 2019, before the COVID-19 pandemic.
This roughly 40% increase was driven by expanded enrollment and higher use of services during and after the pandemic.
Recent federal budget measures under the Trump administration have proposed large reductions in federal Medicaid funding and significant program changes. The “One Big Beautiful Bill Act,” enacted in 2025, is expected to reduce federal Medicaid spending by over $1 trillion in the next decade, featuring policies like work requirements and greater cost-sharing that may lower coverage and funding for some groups. These adjustments are likely to increase the burden on states and curb growth in federal Medicaid support, while the program continues to assist millions of Americans.
| Year | Total Medicaid Payments | % Change From Previous Year |
|---|---|---|
| 2020 | $4,521,445 | -21% |
| 2021 | $6,597,321 | 45.9% |
| 2022 | $9,097,635 | 37.9% |
| 2023 | $9,768,719 | 7.4% |
| 2024 | $10,336,295 | 5.8% |
| Rank | Category | Medicaid Payments | Share of City Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Alcohol and Drug Abuse Treatment | $64,966,537 | 27.9% |
| 2 | Medicine Services and Procedures | $40,889,611 | 17.6% |
| 3 | National Codes Established for State Medicaid Agencies | $39,865,980 | 17.1% |
| 4 | Evaluation and Management | $30,313,856 | 13% |
| 5 | Temporary National Codes (Non-Medicare) | $29,131,093 | 12.5% |
| 6 | Dental Services | $10,336,295 | 4.4% |
| 7 | Surgery | $4,669,025 | 2% |
| 8 | Procedures / Professional Services | $3,474,781 | 1.5% |
| 9 | Ambulance and Other Transport Services and Supplies | $3,034,650 | 1.3% |
| 10 | Pathology and Laboratory Procedures | $2,396,835 | 1% |
| 11 | Anesthesia | $1,220,877 | 0.5% |
| 12 | Drugs Administered Other than Oral Method | $1,078,902 | 0.5% |
| 13 | Radiology Procedures | $949,812 | 0.4% |
| 14 | Temporary Codes | $100,280 | <0.1% |
| 15 | Chemotherapy Drugs | $39,802 | <0.1% |
| 16 | Vision Services | $28,339 | <0.1% |
| 17 | Medical And Surgical Supplies | $26,568 | <0.1% |
| 18 | Administrative, Miscellaneous and Investigational | $5,899 | <0.1% |
| 19 | Diagnostic Radiology Services | $4,760 | <0.1% |
| 20 | Orthotic Procedures and services | $3,489 | <0.1% |
| 21 | Hearing Services | $542 | <0.1% |
| 22 | Coronavirus Diagnostic Panel | $0 | <0.1% |
| HCPCS Code | Description | Medicaid Payments | Claims |
|---|---|---|---|
| D0120 | Periodic oral evaluation | $4,157,567 | 922 |
| D0150 | Comprehensve oral evaluation | $1,807,433 | 912 |
| D0230 | Intraoral periapical ea add | $1,315,082 | 1,099 |
| D0210 | Intraor comprehensive series | $638,726 | 574 |
| D0274 | Bitewings four images | $509,992 | 678 |
| D0350 | Oral/facial photo images | $509,587 | 599 |
| D0220 | Intraoral periapical first | $290,823 | 529 |
| D0145 | Oral evaluation, pt < 3yrs | $283,557 | 157 |
| D0272 | Dental bitewings two images | $242,735 | 474 |
| D0603 | Caries risk assess high risk | $236,226 | 278 |
| D0330 | Panoramic image | $218,407 | 229 |
| D0140 | Limit oral eval problm focus | $62,742 | 98 |
| D0340 | 2d cephalometric image | $32,787 | 29 |
| D0602 | Caries risk assess mod risk | $28,966 | 72 |
| D0601 | Caries risk assess low risk | $1,260 | 6 |
| D0270 | Dental bitewing single image | $400 | 5 |
| D0170 | Re-eval,est pt,problem focus | $0 | 1 |
| D0171 | Re-eval post-op visit | $0 | 1 |
| D0190 | Screening of a patient | $0 | 2 |
| D0191 | Assessment of a patient | $0 | 6 |
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.
