California sees 177.2% jump in Medicaid spending for Screening Procedures services in 2024

Data from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Medicaid Provider Spending database shows that Medicaid payments in California reached $474 in 2024 for claims linked to the Screening Procedures category. This amount grew by 177.2% compared to 2023, when providers reported $171 in claims for the same category.

Medicaid, funded jointly by federal and state governments and operated at the state level, is a public health insurance program. It provides coverage for low-income adults and children, seniors, and individuals with disabilities, making it a cornerstone of the U.S. health care system.

Since Medicaid is taxpayer-funded, shifts in local billing levels highlight how public health care resources are distributed within a community.

The “Screening Procedures” category covers a range of Medicaid-billed services identified by the care provided, classified according to established HCPCS and CPT code groupings. This analysis assigned each billing code to a single service category using uniform code prefixes and numeric ranges, ensuring related services are analyzed together without duplicating payment figures and maintaining accurate rankings over time.

Categories can include several types of underlying services. In those instances, the category includes related types of care often billed together under Medicaid, such as diagnostic tests, office visits, and therapeutic procedures.

Though payments for Screening Procedures services were spread throughout California, they were concentrated in a few ZIP codes. In 2024, ZIP Code 93245 registered $246, or 51.8%, of all Medicaid payments for services grouped in the Screening Procedures category.

This leading ZIP code made up 51.8% of state Medicaid payments in the Screening Procedures service category for the year.

Statewide, all Medicaid claim categories combined increased 4.3% from 2023 to 2024.

While Medicaid spending climbed among multiple service types, payments tied to the Screening Procedures category ranked the service among the top 29 in total payments in California in 2024.

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

This increase amounts to nearly 40% growth in a few years, largely due to higher enrollment and service use during and after the pandemic period.

Federal budget laws from the Trump administration included significant proposals to reduce Medicaid funding and change how the program operates. For instance, the “One Big Beautiful Bill Act,” signed in 2025, is expected to cut more than $1 trillion from federal Medicaid costs over 10 years and includes policies such as work requirements and higher cost-sharing, which could reduce coverage and funds for some enrollees. These revisions are projected to increase state financial responsibility and slow the expansion of federal Medicaid contributions, even as the program continues to support millions nationwide.

Data for this report is sourced from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Medicaid Provider Spending database. The raw data is available here.