California’s Medicaid spending for dental services totals $475,664,548 in 2024

In 2024, Medicaid payments for dental services in California amounted to $475,664,548, data from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Medicaid Provider Spending database shows. This was an increase of 3.1% from 2023, when providers reported $461,296,190 in claims.

Medicaid is a government health insurance program managed at the state level and financed through a collaboration between federal and state governments. It provides coverage for low-income individuals and families, seniors, children and people with disabilities, ranking among the largest U.S. health care programs.

Since Medicaid funding is drawn from taxpayer dollars, shifts in the amount billed locally show how communities allocate public health care resources.

The “Dental Services” designation refers to Medicaid-billed services grouped by type of care and based on standard HCPCS and CPT code clusters. For this report, each procedure code was assigned one service group using set code prefixes and numeric ranges, enabling collective review of related services while preventing overlap and maintaining trend accuracy.

In some cases, these groupings contain several different types of services. In those instances, the category covers various commonly Medicaid-billed services, such as diagnostic exams, professional visits and therapeutic procedures.

During the five years ending in 2024, Medicaid payouts connected with dental services in California grew by $244,891,177, or 106.1%. The upward spending trend was marked by notable surges during certain years, especially in 2021 and 2022.

While Medicaid funding for dental services was distributed statewide, a significant portion was paid out within a handful of ZIP codes. In 2024, the highest Medicaid spending for dental services occurred in ZIP Code 95991, which totaled $6,411,039 (1.3% of the state sum), ZIP Code 93309 at $6,040,463 (1.3%), and ZIP Code 90255, with $5,832,577 (1.2%).

The top three ZIP codes together made up 3.8% of all state Medicaid payments for dental services for the year.

For additional context, statewide Medicaid expenditures across all claim groups increased by 4.3% between 2023 and 2024.

Although overall Medicaid outlays climbed in several categories, dental services ranked among the 11 largest by statewide payment volume in 2024.

According to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, combined state and federal Medicaid spending reached roughly $871.7 billion in fiscal year 2023, representing about 18% of the nation’s total health expenditures, a significant rise from approximately $613.5 billion in 2019 before the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic.

This equates to an estimated 40% increase in just a few years, largely due to broader enrollment and higher demand following pandemic years.

Federal budget measures during the Trump administration included major plans to decrease federal funding for Medicaid and adjust the program structure. The “One Big Beautiful Bill Act,” enacted in 2025, is anticipated to reduce federal Medicaid spending by more than $1 trillion over the next 10 years and initiates changes like work requirements and greater cost-sharing likely to affect coverage and funding for some recipients. These policies are projected to move more responsibility to states and slow increases in federal Medicaid aid, although the program continues to provide insurance to tens of millions nationwide.

Information for this article comes from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Medicaid Provider Spending database. The underlying data is available here.