Providers participating in Medicaid in Salem submitted $32,709 in claims for Dental Services in 2024, data from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Medicaid Provider Spending database shows. This amounts to a 2.4% rise from 2023, when Dental Services billings totaled $31,938.
Medicaid, the nation’s public health insurance program, operates at the state level but receives joint funding from the federal and state governments. It provides coverage for low-income residents, seniors, children, and individuals with disabilities, making it a significant component of the U.S. health care system.
Since Medicaid expenditures are sourced from taxpayers, shifts in local billing offer insights into how public health dollars are allocated throughout the community.
The “Dental Services” category includes all services billed through Medicaid based on type of care, organized using standardized HCPCS and CPT code groupings. This analysis categorizes each billing code into one service group by applying designated code prefixes and numeric spans, grouping similar services for reporting consistency and avoiding repeat counts.
Dental Services placed second among Medicaid categories by total spending in Salem in 2024, reflecting increased expenditures across several service groups.
For Utah as a whole, Dental Services ranked ninth among Medicaid payment categories by total value in 2024.
Over the five years through 2024, Salem saw Medicaid payments for Dental Services spike by $14,471, or 79.3%. Certain intervals showed particularly strong yearly gains, notably in 2021 and 2020.
Although Dental Services funds were distributed across Salem, the bulk of payments came from a narrow set of ZIP codes. In 2024, ZIP code 84653 accounted for the full $32,709 in Medicaid spending tagged to Dental Services, making up 100% of these local payments for the year.
Payment amounts within Dental Services also reflected concentration among fewer HCPCS and CPT billing codes.
From 2023 to 2024, Salem’s Dental Services Medicaid payments increased by 2.4%. By comparison, citywide Medicaid payments for all claim categories rose 38.4% during the same period.
According to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, joint federal and state Medicaid outlays reached about $871.7 billion in fiscal 2023, representing approximately 18% of all national health care spending—an increase from $613.5 billion in 2019, before the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic.
This spike reflects roughly 40% overall growth driven by expanded participation and more frequent use of program services during and after the pandemic era.
Recent congressional budget actions under the Trump administration proposed sweeping changes to Medicaid funding within federal law. For example, the “One Big Beautiful Bill Act,” enacted in 2025, outlines more than $1 trillion in projected federal Medicaid cuts for the next decade, bringing in provisions such as work mandate requirements and higher out-of-pocket expenses that could lead to decreased coverage and financing for some. The anticipated effect would hand off a larger share of Medicaid costs to states and curb the future growth of federal funding even while the program maintains coverage for millions.
| Year | Total Medicaid Payments | % Change From Previous Year |
|---|---|---|
| 2020 | $18,238 | 43.8% |
| 2021 | $38,013 | 108.4% |
| 2022 | $44,402 | 16.8% |
| 2023 | $31,938 | -28.1% |
| 2024 | $32,709 | 2.4% |
| Rank | Category | Medicaid Payments | Share of City Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | National Codes Established for State Medicaid Agencies | $379,522 | 89% |
| 2 | Dental Services | $32,709 | 7.7% |
| 3 | Evaluation and Management | $14,268 | 3.3% |
| 4 | Surgery | $33 | <0.1% |
| 5 | Procedures / Professional Services | $0 | <0.1% |
| HCPCS Code | Description | Medicaid Payments | Claims |
|---|---|---|---|
| D0230 | Intraoral periapical ea add | $13,325 | 12 |
| D0120 | Periodic oral evaluation | $7,855 | 12 |
| D0220 | Intraoral periapical first | $5,668 | 12 |
| D0274 | Bitewings four images | $3,706 | 7 |
| D0150 | Comprehensve oral evaluation | $985 | 2 |
| D0272 | Dental bitewings two images | $770 | 2 |
| D0140 | Limit oral eval problm focus | $397 | 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.
