California Medicaid pays $1,150,172,437 for Pathology and Laboratory Procedures in 2024

In 2024, Medicaid distributed $1,150,172,437 across California for Pathology and Laboratory Procedures, according to data from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Medicaid Provider Spending database. That figure represents a 5.2% increase from 2023, when providers filed $1,093,155,672 in related claims.

Medicaid, operated by the states and jointly funded by federal and state governments, is the nation’s public health insurance program for low-income households, seniors, children and individuals with disabilities. It is a core component of the U.S. health care system.

Because Medicaid funding originates from taxpayers, fluctuations in local billing help illustrate how public health care dollars are distributed within a given community.

The “Pathology and Laboratory Procedures” classification reflects Medicaid-billed services that are grouped by treatment type, categorized based on standardized HCPCS and CPT codes. For these findings, each billing code was placed in a single category using consistent code prefixes and ranges to ensure related services are analyzed together, avoiding duplicate counts or skewed rankings over time.

Some service categories may span several types of care. In such cases, the classification includes similar treatment types, such as office appointments, diagnostic exams and therapeutic interventions, that are often billed collectively under Medicaid.

Over five years prior to 2024, Medicaid spending for Pathology and Laboratory Procedures in California rose by $543,761,127, an 89.7% increase. Some periods saw faster growth, with prominent year-over-year jumps occurring in 2021 and 2023.

While this spending took place throughout California, a significant share was concentrated in just a few ZIP codes in 2024. The highest statewide Medicaid payments for Pathology and Laboratory Procedures were in ZIP Code 94070, with $166,320,039 (14.5% of the total), ZIP Code 91304, at $90,010,287 (7.8%), and ZIP Code 94804, reporting $44,410,634 (3.9%).

Together, these three ZIP codes accounted for 26.1% of all Medicaid payments in the Pathology and Laboratory Procedures category statewide during 2024.

Statewide, Medicaid payments across all categories increased 4.3% between 2023 and 2024.

Spending grew in several Medicaid service areas, with Pathology and Laboratory Procedures ranking among the state’s top five categories by total payments for 2024.

According to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, federal and state Medicaid expenditures reached approximately $871.7 billion in fiscal year 2023, about 18% of national health care costs and up significantly from roughly $613.5 billion in 2019, before the COVID-19 pandemic.

This rise totals about 40% over several years, mostly due to increased enrollment and greater service use during and following the pandemic.

Recent Trump-era federal budget laws have advanced major proposals to cut federal Medicaid funding and overhaul the program. For instance, the “One Big Beautiful Bill Act,” enacted in 2025, is expected to trim federal Medicaid spending by more than $1 trillion over a decade. It introduces measures such as work requirements and higher cost-sharing, which could reduce funding and coverage for certain beneficiaries. These approaches are projected to shift greater costs to states and restrict federal Medicaid growth, as the program remains vital to tens of millions across the U.S.

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.