California Medicaid spending on chemotherapy drugs hits $94.9 million in 2024

In 2024, Medicaid payments for services in the Chemotherapy Drugs category totaled $94,913,929 across California, figures from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Medicaid Provider Spending database show. This reflects a 10.8% rise from 2023, when claims reached $85,647,213.

Medicaid, a public insurance program operated by the states and funded by both state and federal governments, serves low-income people and families, seniors, children, and individuals with disabilities. It remains one of the most significant elements of the U.S. health system.

Since taxpayer dollars fund Medicaid payments, changes in local billing reflect how public health spending is distributed in communities.

The “Chemotherapy Drugs” category represents Medicaid-reported services grouped by care type, using standardized HCPCS and CPT code groupings. Each billing code in this report was assigned to a single service group using standard code prefixes and ranges, ensuring similar services are analyzed together, preventing double counting, and keeping accurate trends over time.

Some categories include a range of related services. Where this applies, the category covers services typically billed together, such as office visits, diagnostic procedures and therapy within Medicaid.

From 2019 to 2024, Medicaid spending for the Chemotherapy Drugs category in California grew by $52,767,977, or 125.2%. Payment growth accelerated at certain points, with significant annual increases in 2022 and 2023.

While Chemotherapy Drugs payments were dispersed statewide, a few ZIP codes concentrated most of the spending. In 2024, top ZIP codes for Medicaid payments in this category included 91010 ($18,572,224, or 19.6% of the total), 94305 ($11,178,101, or 11.8%), and 93301 ($8,074,678, or 8.5%).

Collectively, these three ZIP codes represented 39.9% of Medicaid payments for Chemotherapy Drugs in California that year.

Statewide, Medicaid payments for all claim types rose 4.3% from 2023 to 2024 for comparison.

While Medicaid outlays grew for several categories, Chemotherapy Drugs ranked among the top 16 for total payments statewide during 2024.

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services report that combined federal and state Medicaid spending reached approximately $871.7 billion in fiscal year 2023, making up about 18% of total national health expenditures. That’s up sharply from roughly $613.5 billion in 2019, before the COVID-19 pandemic.

This increase reflects about 40% growth in a few years, largely from rising enrollment and greater service utilization during and after the pandemic period.

Major recent federal budget measures during the Trump administration included policy changes aimed at reducing federal Medicaid funding and revising the program’s structure. The “One Big Beautiful Bill Act,” enacted in 2025, is set to cut more than $1 trillion in federal Medicaid spending over the coming decade and implements changes such as work requirements and additional cost-sharing. These adjustments may narrow coverage and funding for certain recipients, likely shifting more expenses to states and constraining federal Medicaid growth even as the program continues to support tens of millions nationwide.

Data for this article are sourced from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Medicaid Provider Spending database. Access the original data set here.