Data from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Medicaid Provider Spending database shows that in 2024, Laguna Beach Medicaid providers charged $69,923 for services labeled under Medicine Services and Procedures. This represents a significant jump of 908.3% compared with 2023, when such claims amounted to $6,935.
Medicaid, a major public health insurance initiative, is administered by states and funded both federally and by state governments. It supplies coverage to low-income people, families, children, seniors, and those with disabilities, serving as a central part of health care in the U.S.
Shifts in Medicaid billing levels, which use taxpayer funding, reveal the distribution of community-held public health care resources.
The “Medicine Services and Procedures” group covers a range of Medicaid-billed care types, categorized by standard HCPCS and CPT code clusters. In this assessment, each billing code is mapped to an exclusive service group based on selected numeric range and prefix rules. This allows an analysis of related services and accurate performance tracking over time.
Growth in Medicaid expenditures was noted in various service categories, with Medicine Services and Procedures ranked as the third-highest spending category in Laguna Beach for 2024.
Across California, Medicine Services and Procedures also landed third among categories by overall Medicaid payment totals for 2024.
Medicaid expenditures for Medicine Services and Procedures in Laguna Beach jumped $65,599 over the five years before 2024, reflecting 1,517% growth. Accelerated spending increases were particularly prominent during select years, as year-over-year surges emerged in both 2022 and 2023.
Payment data indicates most care costs in the Medicine Services and Procedures category were centered in just a few ZIP codes citywide. The year 2024 saw the most spending linked to ZIP code 92651, totaling $69,923. All billing for this service group in Laguna Beach during 2024 came from this top ZIP code.
Spending within the Medicine Services and Procedures group was mostly clustered within several primary billing codes.
Between 2023 and 2024, Medicaid payments for Medicine Services and Procedures in Laguna Beach shot up by 908.3%, compared with an overall change of 28.1% across all Medicaid categories citywide for the same span.
According to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, combined federal and state Medicaid outlays totaled about $871.7 billion in fiscal 2023. That accounted for nearly 18% of total U.S. health spending and was a sharp increase from nearly $613.5 billion in 2019—the period before the COVID-19 crisis.
This surge reflects around 40% growth in just a few years, primarily propelled by expanded program membership and higher usage throughout and following the pandemic.
Recent federal budgets set during the Trump administration have included notable proposals to reduce federal contributions and overhaul Medicaid’s structure. One example, the “One Big Beautiful Bill Act,” enacted in 2025, aims to cut more than $1 trillion in federal Medicaid spending over a decade, introducing steps such as work requirements and increased cost shares, posing potential for scaled-back coverage for certain recipients. Such reforms are projected to push greater financial responsibility to states while restricting the federal government’s Medicaid growth, despite ongoing commitments to tens of millions of Americans.
| Year | Total Medicaid Payments | % Change From Previous Year |
|---|---|---|
| 2020 | $4,324 | 1.7% |
| 2021 | $2,158 | -50.1% |
| 2022 | $2,294 | 6.3% |
| 2023 | $6,934 | 202.3% |
| 2024 | $69,923 | 908.3% |
| Rank | Category | Medicaid Payments | Share of City Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | National Codes Established for State Medicaid Agencies | $807,038 | 52.8% |
| 2 | Evaluation and Management | $582,710 | 38.1% |
| 3 | Medicine Services and Procedures | $69,923 | 4.6% |
| 4 | Dental Services | $51,355 | 3.4% |
| 5 | Ambulance and Other Transport Services and Supplies | $10,574 | 0.7% |
| 6 | Diagnostic Radiology Services | $5,236 | 0.3% |
| 7 | Temporary Codes | $983 | 0.1% |
| 8 | Radiology Procedures | $901 | 0.1% |
| 9 | Pathology and Laboratory Procedures | $389 | <0.1% |
| HCPCS Code | Description | Medicaid Payments | Claims |
|---|---|---|---|
| 90837 | Psytx w pt 60 minutes | $35,655 | 12 |
| 90791 | Psych diagnostic evaluation | $7,501 | 5 |
| 97803 | Med nutrition indiv subseq | $7,127 | 10 |
| 97802 | Medical nutrition indiv in | $6,837 | 10 |
| 90471 | Immunization admin | $5,084 | 28 |
| 93010 | Electrocardiogram report | $4,967 | 33 |
| 90746 | Hepb vaccine 3 dose adult im | $1,721 | 2 |
| 90715 | Tdap vaccine 7 yrs/> im | $559 | 1 |
| 92499 | Unlisted oph svc/procedure | $265 | 2 |
| 92552 | Pure tone audiometry air | $202 | 1 |
| 90658 | Iiv3 vaccine splt 0.5 ml im | $0 | 2 |
| 92340 | Fit spectacles monofocal | $0 | 1 |
| 97110 | Therapeutic exercises | $0 | 1 |
| 97112 | Neuromuscular reeducation | $0 | 1 |
| 97140 | Manual therapy 1/> regions | $0 | 1 |
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.
