Merced sees 13.3% rise in Medicaid Dental Services payments in 2024

In 2024, Merced Medicaid providers billed $2,643,782 for services in the Dental Services category, as reported by data from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Medicaid Provider Spending database. This was up 13.3% from 2023, when claims for the same care totaled $2,332,892.

Medicaid, a public health insurance program funded jointly by federal and state governments and managed at the state level, provides coverage to families and individuals with low incomes, seniors, children and people with disabilities. It is one of the largest components of the U.S. health care landscape.

As Medicaid funds come from taxpayers, fluctuations in community billing levels illustrate how public health care funding is distributed locally.

The Dental Services category covers a collection of Medicaid-billed services identified by standardized HCPCS and CPT codes that reflect the type of dental care rendered. In this analysis, each code was mapped to a single service category using established code prefixes and ranges, supporting accurate examination of related services while preventing double counting and maintaining precise rankings over time.

Dental Services was the eighth largest Medicaid payment category in Merced in 2024, even as Medicaid spending climbed in numerous service areas.

Statewide, Dental Services ranked 11th by total Medicaid payments in California that same year.

Between 2019 and 2024, Medicaid payments linked to Dental Services in Merced rose by $1,731,888, representing a 189.9% increase. There were accelerated periods of growth, with sizable year-over-year gains in 2021 and 2022.

While spending on Dental Services spanned all parts of the city, the majority of payments were centered in just a few ZIP codes. For 2024, the largest Medicaid payments linked to Dental Services in Merced were in ZIP code 95348, at $1,575,827, and 95340, at $1,067,954. Combined, these top two ZIP codes represented 100% of Merced’s Medicaid payments for Dental Services for the year.

Within the Dental Services group, Medicaid payment amounts were highly concentrated in a select set of individual billing codes.

Looking at all Medicaid claim categories in Merced, Dental Services payments increased by 13.3% from 2023 to 2024, while across all service types, Medicaid claims in the city grew by 16.8% for the same period.

According to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, combined federal and state outlays for Medicaid totaled approximately $871.7 billion in fiscal year 2023. That figure accounted for about 18% of total U.S. health expenditures, up sharply from about $613.5 billion before the COVID-19 pandemic in 2019.

The roughly 40% increase in Medicaid spending in just a few years was mainly the result of expanded enrollment and increased utilization during and after the pandemic period.

Recent federal budget moves under the Trump administration have proposed deep reductions to federal Medicaid funding and broader program restructuring. The “One Big Beautiful Bill Act,” signed into law in 2025, is expected to cut federal Medicaid spending by over $1 trillion during the next decade and incorporates policies like work requirements and more cost-sharing, potentially reducing both funding and coverage for some Medicaid recipients. These changes could lead to increased costs for states and slower federal Medicaid funding growth, even as the program stays central to covering millions of Americans.

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.