In 2024, Medicaid providers in Placentia billed $1,565,356 for services classified under the Dental Services category, data from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Medicaid Provider Spending database shows. This total reflects a 2.7% increase from 2023, when $1,524,203 was billed for the same service group.
Medicaid is a public health insurance program administered by states and funded jointly by federal and state governments. It serves low-income families and individuals, seniors, children, and people with disabilities, making it a central component of the U.S. health care system.
Because Medicaid funds are sourced from taxpayers, variations in local billing shed light on how public health care resources are distributed across a community.
The “Dental Services” category groups together a selection of Medicaid-billed services by type of care delivered, according to standardized HCPCS and CPT coding. This analysis assigned each code to a single service category, using fixed code prefixes and number ranges to ensure related services were reviewed together while avoiding overlap and maintaining accurate comparisons over time.
The Dental Services category was third-highest in Placentia for Medicaid payments among all service types in 2024, as overall Medicaid spending rose across multiple categories.
Statewide, Dental Services was 11th by total Medicaid payments in California in 2024.
Medicaid payments for the Dental Services category in Placentia grew by $933,171—or 147.6%—over the five-year period through 2024. Certain years, including 2022 and 2021, saw particularly large annual increases.
Although spending on Dental Services was spread throughout Placentia, payments were focused in a small number of ZIP codes. In 2024, ZIP code 92870 accounted for $1,565,356 in Dental Services Medicaid payments, with this area making up 100% of the city’s total for this service category during the year.
A small subset of individual billing codes represented most Medicaid Dental Services payments.
For comparison, Dental Services Medicaid payments in Placentia rose 2.7% from 2023 to 2024, while all Medicaid claim categories in the city increased by 8.4% during the same period.
According to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, combined Medicaid spending by federal and state governments reached about $871.7 billion in fiscal year 2023—approximately 18% of total national health expenditures—and was up significantly from around $613.5 billion in 2019, prior to the COVID-19 pandemic.
This represents an approximate 40% increase in several years, largely attributed to greater enrollment and higher service use during and after the pandemic.
Recent federal budget legislation from the Trump administration has contained major proposals to reduce federal Medicaid contributions and restructure the program. For instance, the “One Big Beautiful Bill Act,” enacted in 2025, is projected to reduce federal Medicaid spending by over $1 trillion in the next decade and introduce measures such as work requirements and higher cost-sharing, which could lead to decreased coverage and funding for some beneficiaries. These changes are anticipated to increase pressures for states and may restrict growth in federal Medicaid support while the program continues to provide coverage for millions of Americans.
| Year | Total Medicaid Payments | % Change From Previous Year |
|---|---|---|
| 2020 | $632,185 | 5.6% |
| 2021 | $932,671 | 47.5% |
| 2022 | $1,395,357 | 49.6% |
| 2023 | $1,524,203 | 9.2% |
| 2024 | $1,565,356 | 2.7% |
| Rank | Category | Medicaid Payments | Share of City Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Alcohol and Drug Abuse Treatment | $1,875,431 | 23.6% |
| 2 | Medicine Services and Procedures | $1,595,721 | 20.1% |
| 3 | Dental Services | $1,565,356 | 19.7% |
| 4 | Evaluation and Management | $984,998 | 12.4% |
| 5 | Anesthesia | $486,166 | 6.1% |
| 6 | Diagnostic Radiology Services | $401,722 | 5.1% |
| 7 | National Codes Established for State Medicaid Agencies | $339,726 | 4.3% |
| 8 | Radiology Procedures | $316,568 | 4% |
| 9 | Pathology and Laboratory Procedures | $135,752 | 1.7% |
| 10 | Temporary National Codes (Non-Medicare) | $58,537 | 0.7% |
| 11 | Coronavirus Diagnostic Panel | $52,022 | 0.7% |
| 12 | Temporary Codes | $46,815 | 0.6% |
| 13 | Drugs Administered Other than Oral Method | $37,593 | 0.5% |
| 14 | Surgery | $23,563 | 0.3% |
| 15 | Procedures / Professional Services | $9,264 | 0.1% |
| 16 | Ambulance and Other Transport Services and Supplies | $1,932 | <0.1% |
| 17 | Durable Medical Equipment | $514 | <0.1% |
| 18 | Vision Services | $134 | <0.1% |
| HCPCS Code | Description | Medicaid Payments | Claims |
|---|---|---|---|
| D0120 | Periodic oral evaluation | $700,929 | 107 |
| D0230 | Intraoral periapical ea add | $223,818 | 137 |
| D0150 | Comprehensve oral evaluation | $165,497 | 85 |
| D0145 | Oral evaluation, pt < 3yrs | $85,359 | 47 |
| D0220 | Intraoral periapical first | $78,741 | 100 |
| D0330 | Panoramic image | $65,255 | 48 |
| D0603 | Caries risk assess high risk | $62,683 | 72 |
| D0272 | Dental bitewings two images | $56,144 | 86 |
| D0350 | Oral/facial photo images | $48,956 | 60 |
| D0210 | Intraor comprehensive series | $32,340 | 33 |
| D0340 | 2d cephalometric image | $12,700 | 14 |
| D0602 | Caries risk assess mod risk | $10,407 | 29 |
| D0270 | Dental bitewing single image | $9,502 | 30 |
| D0140 | Limit oral eval problm focus | $8,680 | 16 |
| D0274 | Bitewings four images | $4,341 | 12 |
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.
