Providers participating in Medicaid billed $1,724,760 for Pathology and Laboratory Procedures services in Los Banos in 2024, according to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Medicaid Provider Spending database. That amount reflects a 3% rise from 2023, when $1,675,115 in claims were filed for the same service category.
Medicaid, a public insurance initiative managed by states and jointly funded by the federal and state governments, covers low-income individuals and families, seniors, children, and those with disabilities. It remains one of the largest components of the U.S. health care system.
As Medicaid relies on taxpayer dollars, any changes in local billing totals indicate how public health care funds are distributed in specific communities.
The Pathology and Laboratory Procedures designation encompasses a range of Medicaid-billed services identified by care type, using standardized HCPCS and CPT code classifications. This analysis grouped each billing code with a specific service category, using defined code prefixes and ranges to maintain clear service groups while ensuring unique counting and precise rankings through different periods.
Though Medicaid expenditures increased across several categories, Pathology and Laboratory Procedures was the fourth largest category by total Medicaid payments in Los Banos in 2024.
Statewide in California, this category ranked fifth for aggregate Medicaid spending in 2024.
Across the five years preceding 2024, Los Banos saw Medicaid payments associated with Pathology and Laboratory Procedures grow by $911,171—or 112%. The rate of expenditure growth accelerated in some periods, including notable year-over-year growth in 2022 and 2021.
Though care spending was spread across Los Banos, Medicaid payments were mostly concentrated in a few ZIP codes. In 2024, ZIP code 93635 accounted for nearly all of the $1,724,759 in Medicaid spending tied to Pathology and Laboratory Procedures, representing 100% of such payments locally that year.
Within Pathology and Laboratory Procedures, the majority of Medicaid payments stemmed from a select set of billing codes.
To compare, a 3% increase in Medicaid payments was seen locally in this category between 2024 and 2023, against an overall change of 8.3% across all Medicaid claim categories in Los Banos during the same period.
According to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, combined federal and state Medicaid expenditures totaled approximately $871.7 billion for fiscal year 2023, which was about 18% of total national health spending, a sharp increase from $613.5 billion in 2019, prior to the COVID-19 pandemic.
This growth represents an increase of roughly 40% over several years, driven mainly by expanded enrollment and intensified demand during and after the pandemic.
Federal budget measures under the Trump administration have included substantial proposals targeting reduced federal Medicaid outlays and restructuring the program. For example, the “One Big Beautiful Bill Act,” enacted in 2025, is expected to cut over $1 trillion in federal Medicaid funding over the next decade. The policy introduces tougher requirements such as work provisions and higher cost-sharing, potentially lowering coverage and available funding for select beneficiaries. These measures are likely to shift more financial responsibility to states and slow the growth of federal Medicaid contributions, even as the program remains critical for millions of Americans.
| Year | Total Medicaid Payments | % Change From Previous Year |
|---|---|---|
| 2020 | $813,588 | 2.2% |
| 2021 | $1,189,105 | 46.2% |
| 2022 | $1,939,370 | 63.1% |
| 2023 | $1,675,115 | -13.6% |
| 2024 | $1,724,759 | 3% |
| Rank | Category | Medicaid Payments | Share of City Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | National Codes Established for State Medicaid Agencies | $9,339,048 | 41.6% |
| 2 | Evaluation and Management | $4,699,805 | 21% |
| 3 | Medicine Services and Procedures | $3,791,226 | 16.9% |
| 4 | Pathology and Laboratory Procedures | $1,724,759 | 7.7% |
| 5 | Radiology Procedures | $1,252,324 | 5.6% |
| 6 | Alcohol and Drug Abuse Treatment | $819,901 | 3.7% |
| 7 | Dental Services | $350,468 | 1.6% |
| 8 | Procedures / Professional Services | $112,239 | 0.5% |
| 9 | Orthotic Procedures and services | $96,782 | 0.4% |
| 10 | Drugs Administered Other than Oral Method | $83,601 | 0.4% |
| 11 | Surgery | $63,829 | 0.3% |
| 12 | Anesthesia | $48,062 | 0.2% |
| 13 | Temporary National Codes (Non-Medicare) | $20,977 | 0.1% |
| 14 | Temporary Codes | $19,385 | 0.1% |
| 15 | Medical And Surgical Supplies | $2,551 | <0.1% |
| HCPCS Code | Description | Medicaid Payments | Claims |
|---|---|---|---|
| 87637 | Sarscov2&inf a&b&rsv amp prb | $310,297 | 11 |
| 87636 | Sarscov2 & inf a&b amp prb | $195,191 | 11 |
| 80053 | Comprehen metabolic panel | $125,858 | 30 |
| 82306 | Vitamin d 25 hydroxy | $107,491 | 22 |
| 85025 | Complete cbc w/auto diff wbc | $105,724 | 33 |
| 84443 | Assay thyroid stim hormone | $79,929 | 22 |
| 87651 | Strep a dna amp probe | $72,329 | 29 |
| 87502 | Influenza dna amp probe | $68,784 | 19 |
| 80061 | Lipid panel | $63,785 | 22 |
| 80307 | Drug test prsmv chem anlyzr | $42,072 | 11 |
| 87635 | Sars-cov-2 covid-19 amp prb | $40,352 | 9 |
| 83036 | Hemoglobin glycosylated a1c | $39,761 | 35 |
| 87491 | Chlmyd trach dna amp probe | $36,944 | 21 |
| 87591 | N.gonorrhoeae dna amp prob | $31,731 | 18 |
| 84484 | Assay of troponin quant | $29,645 | 11 |
| 81025 | Urine pregnancy test | $22,958 | 34 |
| 83690 | Assay of lipase | $18,217 | 11 |
| 87389 | Hiv-1 ag w/hiv-1&-2 ab ag ia | $18,088 | 11 |
| 80074 | Acute hepatitis panel | $16,733 | 11 |
| 87086 | Urine culture/colony count | $15,968 | 20 |
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.
