Medicaid providers in Porterville submitted $1,326,332 in claims for Dental Services in 2024, as reported by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Medicaid Provider Spending database. This was a 4% uptick from 2023, when reimbursements for the same service reached $1,275,241.
Medicaid, run by individual states with joint federal and state funding, covers low-income residents, families, seniors, children, and people with disabilities, making it a major part of the national health care network. For more on funding, see the Commonwealth Fund explainer.
As Medicaid utilizes taxpayer funding, local shifts in billing reflect how health care dollars are distributed throughout the community.
The “Dental Services” classification groups Medicaid claims by service type, established using consistent HCPCS and CPT code ranges. Each code applies to a single category, preventing double counting and supporting accurate year-over-year comparisons.
While Medicaid outlays increased in several categories, Dental Services ranked as the sixth highest for total Medicaid payments in Porterville in 2024.
Dental Services also placed 11th statewide in California in terms of Medicaid payments for 2024.
From 2019 to 2024, Medicaid payments for Dental Services in Porterville rose by $475,051, or 55.8%. Some of the largest annual increases occurred in 2022 and 2021.
Spending in the Dental Services category was distributed across Porterville, but most payments were centralized within a few ZIP codes. In 2024, ZIP code 93257 accounted entirely for the city’s $1,326,332 in Medicaid Dental Services spending. This ZIP code represented 100% of Dental Services payments in Porterville for the year.
Payments in the Dental Services grouping centered on a small selection of billing codes.
For context, Porterville’s Dental Services Medicaid payments grew 4% from 2023 to 2024, while overall Medicaid claims in the city rose 12.1% during that time.
According to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, combined federal and state Medicaid expenditures totaled about $871.7 billion in fiscal 2023, approximately 18% of total national health care spending, up from around $613.5 billion in 2019, before the COVID-19 pandemic.
This difference equals about 40% growth in just a few years, largely attributed to higher enrollment and increased use during and following the pandemic.
Recent federal budgets during the Trump administration have introduced significant plans to reduce federal Medicaid contributions and alter the program’s structure. The “One Big Beautiful Bill Act,” enacted in 2025, is expected to cut federal Medicaid funding by over $1 trillion over 10 years and brings in measures such as work requirements and greater cost-sharing, potentially reducing coverage and funding for certain enrollees. These modifications could shift more financial responsibility to states and limit federal growth even as Medicaid continues aiding millions nationwide.
| Year | Total Medicaid Payments | % Change From Previous Year |
|---|---|---|
| 2020 | $851,280 | -32% |
| 2021 | $959,008 | 12.7% |
| 2022 | $1,166,118 | 21.6% |
| 2023 | $1,275,241 | 9.4% |
| 2024 | $1,326,332 | 4% |
| Rank | Category | Medicaid Payments | Share of City Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | National Codes Established for State Medicaid Agencies | $20,658,588 | 63.1% |
| 2 | Medicine Services and Procedures | $2,923,552 | 8.9% |
| 3 | Evaluation and Management | $2,008,058 | 6.1% |
| 4 | Radiology Procedures | $1,428,169 | 4.4% |
| 5 | Anesthesia | $1,358,299 | 4.2% |
| 6 | Dental Services | $1,326,332 | 4.1% |
| 7 | Ambulance and Other Transport Services and Supplies | $833,937 | 2.5% |
| 8 | Pathology and Laboratory Procedures | $759,877 | 2.3% |
| 9 | Procedures / Professional Services | $445,534 | 1.4% |
| 10 | Alcohol and Drug Abuse Treatment | $374,662 | 1.1% |
| 11 | Durable Medical Equipment | $157,858 | 0.5% |
| 12 | Vision Services | $146,672 | 0.4% |
| 13 | Drugs Administered Other than Oral Method | $99,378 | 0.3% |
| 14 | Surgery | $77,802 | 0.2% |
| 15 | Medical And Surgical Supplies | $45,686 | 0.1% |
| 16 | Temporary Codes | $43,194 | 0.1% |
| 17 | Administrative, Miscellaneous and Investigational | $10,983 | <0.1% |
| 18 | Temporary National Codes (Non-Medicare) | $10,516 | <0.1% |
| 19 | Pathology and Laboratory Services | $4,411 | <0.1% |
| 20 | Durable medical equipment (DME) Medicare administrative contractors (MACs) | $1,170 | <0.1% |
| HCPCS Code | Description | Medicaid Payments | Claims |
|---|---|---|---|
| D0120 | Periodic oral evaluation | $550,906 | 99 |
| D0150 | Comprehensve oral evaluation | $248,547 | 90 |
| D0230 | Intraoral periapical ea add | $178,488 | 112 |
| D0274 | Bitewings four images | $92,342 | 78 |
| D0210 | Intraor comprehensive series | $78,689 | 56 |
| D0220 | Intraoral periapical first | $45,477 | 70 |
| D0145 | Oral evaluation, pt < 3yrs | $37,221 | 18 |
| D0603 | Caries risk assess high risk | $32,372 | 50 |
| D0350 | Oral/facial photo images | $24,808 | 43 |
| D0272 | Dental bitewings two images | $18,912 | 41 |
| D0601 | Caries risk assess low risk | $7,620 | 21 |
| D0330 | Panoramic image | $5,746 | 10 |
| D0140 | Limit oral eval problm focus | $2,590 | 5 |
| D0602 | Caries risk assess mod risk | $2,490 | 11 |
| D0270 | Dental bitewing single image | $120 | 2 |
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.