Dental service providers in Concrete billed Medicaid $859 for services in 2024, according to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Medicaid Provider Spending database. This represents an 85.9% increase over 2023, when billing totaled $462 for these services.
Medicaid, jointly financed by federal and state governments , is a public insurance program for low-income people, seniors, children, and those with disabilities. It is one of the largest segments of the nation’s health system.
Since Medicaid funding is sourced from taxpayers, fluctuations in local billing reveal how public money is directed within the community’s health care system.
The “Dental Services” designation refers to a Medicaid billing group categorized by care type according to standardized HCPCS and CPT code frameworks. For this review, each code was connected to a single service group using uniform code prefixes and number ranges to allow for consistent analysis and to maintain accurate rankings by preventing code overlap.
While Medicaid expenditures increased for several service categories, Dental Services ranked fifth for total Medicaid payments in Concrete in 2024.
In Washington state overall, Dental Services was ninth by total Medicaid payments in 2024.
From 2019 to 2024, Medicaid dental-related payments in Concrete rose by $501, or 139.9%. The pace of spending picked up at times, with pronounced increases between 2021 and 2022 in particular.
Dental Services billing was distributed throughout Concrete, but most payments came from a small set of ZIP codes. In 2024, ZIP code 98237 reported the entire $859 in Medicaid dental payments. This single ZIP code made up 100% of the city’s Medicaid payments in this category during the year.
Within Dental Services, Medicaid billing was concentrated on a few distinct procedure codes.
Comparatively, Dental Services Medicaid payments in Concrete grew by 85.9% from 2023 to 2024, while all Medicaid categories combined increased by 42.2% during the same period in the city.
According to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, combined federal and state Medicaid spending reached about $871.7 billion in fiscal 2023, representing nearly 18% of national health costs. This was a significant increase from approximately $613.5 billion in 2019, prior to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The jump marks a nearly 40% rise over several years, driven by higher enrollment and greater usage during and following the pandemic period.
Recent federal budget bills passed under the Trump administration included major proposals reducing federal Medicaid outlays and revising how the program is structured. The “One Big Beautiful Bill Act,” signed into law in 2025, is expected to cut federal Medicaid expenditures by more than $1 trillion over the coming decade. The law introduces measures like work requirements and additional cost-sharing, which could affect both coverage and funding for some recipients. These adjustments are likely to transfer more financial responsibility to the states and limit future federal Medicaid growth, while the program continues to provide for millions of Americans.
| Year | Total Medicaid Payments | % Change From Previous Year |
|---|---|---|
| 2020 | $358 | – |
| 2021 | $1,677 | 368.3% |
| 2023 | $462 | -72.4% |
| 2024 | $859 | 85.8% |
| Rank | Category | Medicaid Payments | Share of City Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Evaluation and Management | $18,951 | 50.2% |
| 2 | Ambulance and Other Transport Services and Supplies | $15,304 | 40.5% |
| 3 | Procedures / Professional Services | $1,501 | 4% |
| 4 | Pathology and Laboratory Procedures | $1,147 | 3% |
| 5 | Dental Services | $859 | 2.3% |
| HCPCS Code | Description | Medicaid Payments | Claims |
|---|---|---|---|
| D0120 | Periodic oral evaluation | $859 | 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.