San Jose Medicaid dental payments reach $7,745,072 in 2024, rising 0.4%

In 2024, Medicaid providers in San Jose billed $7,745,072 for dental services, according to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Medicaid Provider Spending database. This amount represents a 0.4% increase from 2023, when billings for this service type totaled $7,717,277.

Medicaid, a public health insurance program administered by states and funded jointly by the federal and state governments, provides coverage for low-income individuals and families, people with disabilities, seniors, and children, making it one of the largest elements of the U.S. health care system.

Because Medicaid is funded by taxpayers, shifts in local billing amounts show how public health care resources are distributed within the community.

The “Dental Services” category tracks a set of Medicaid-billed services grouped by type of care, using standardized HCPCS and CPT code groupings. This analysis assigns each billing code to a specific service category using consistent code prefixes and ranges, allowing related services to be grouped together and counted without duplication, ensuring accurate rankings over time.

While Medicaid expenditures increased in several service categories, Dental Services ranked ninth by total Medicaid payments in San Jose in 2024.

Across California, Dental Services was the 11th highest category for Medicaid payments that year.

From five years prior to 2024, payments associated with Dental Services in San Jose rose by $3,849,237, or 98.8%. Spending growth was especially high during some intervals, including significant annual increases in 2021 and 2022.

Though dental spending occurred citywide, most Medicaid payments in this category were concentrated within a select group of ZIP codes. In 2024, 95122 led with $2,111,101, followed by 95111 at $748,480 and 95138 with $744,893. Combined, these 3 ZIP codes made up 46.5% of all local Medicaid payments for dental services in San Jose for the year.

Medicaid payments for Dental Services were also centered around a small number of individual billing codes.

Comparatively, Medicaid payments in San Jose for dental services increased 0.4% from 2023 to 2024, while Medicaid payments across all categories citywide rose 21.4% in the same timeframe.

According to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, combined federal and state Medicaid spending totaled about $871.7 billion in fiscal 2023. That figure represented about 18% of national health expenditures, a sharp increase from approximately $613.5 billion in 2019, prior to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The jump reflects roughly 40% growth over several years, largely due to expanded enrollment and greater usage during and after the pandemic.

Recent federal budget acts under the Trump administration have featured major proposals altering federal Medicaid funding. The “One Big Beautiful Bill Act,” enacted in 2025, is anticipated to reduce federal Medicaid outlays by over $1 trillion over 10 years and contains new policies such as work requirements and increased cost sharing, potentially decreasing coverage and federal funding for some recipients. These changes are projected to shift additional cost burdens to states while limiting federal Medicaid growth, even as the program continues providing for tens of millions of Americans.

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.