In Hurricane, Medicaid providers reported $627,150 in billed services under the Dental Services category in 2024, based on figures from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Medicaid Provider Spending database. That represents a 15.2% increase from the $544,272 in claims submitted for the category in 2023.
Medicaid, a joint federal-state public health insurance initiative, is funded by both levels of government. Its scope spans coverage for low-income individuals and families, seniors, children, and people with disabilities, making it a key component of the U.S. health care system.
Because funds for Medicaid originate from taxpayers, changes in local billing reflect how the community’s public health resources are used.
The “Dental Services” category captures a range of Medicaid-billed services based on the nature of care, following standardized HCPCS and CPT code sets. Each billing code in this review was attributed to only one service category using specific code prefixes and number ranges. This structured approach supports year-over-year comparisons, avoids double counting, and ensures more accurate rankings.
Spending went up across various service categories, with Dental Services placing third overall in Hurricane by Medicaid payments in 2024.
On a statewide scale, Dental Services stood in 13th place among all categories in West Virginia by total Medicaid payments for 2024.
Between 2019 and 2024, Medicaid payments for Dental Services in Hurricane grew by $200,645, or 47%. Periods of especially strong growth included 2020 and 2022, which both saw sizable annual increases.
Although Dental Services spending was distributed throughout the city, most Medicaid payments were centered in a small number of ZIP codes. For 2024, ZIP code 25526 accounted for $627,150, making up all Medicaid payments in this category within Hurricane that year.
Within Dental Services, a few specific billing codes received the bulk of Medicaid payments.
When compared with a citywide 18.7% change across all Medicaid claim categories, Medicaid spending for Dental Services in Hurricane rose by 15.2% from 2023 to 2024.
According to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, federal and state Medicaid outlays totaled about $871.7 billion in fiscal year 2023, or approximately 18% of national health care expenditures—an increase from $613.5 billion in 2019, before the COVID-19 pandemic.
This 40% rise over several years has been fueled by factors such as increased enrollment and greater service use during and after the pandemic period.
Recent federal budget actions under the Trump administration brought major proposals to decrease federal Medicaid contributions and overhaul the program. For instance, the “One Big Beautiful Bill Act,” enacted in 2025, is expected to trim federal Medicaid spending by more than $1 trillion over ten years, adding policies like work requirements and higher cost-sharing that may tighten access for some recipients. These shifts could transfer more responsibility to state budgets and constrain federal Medicaid growth, despite the program’s ongoing role for tens of millions of Americans.
| Year | Total Medicaid Payments | % Change From Previous Year |
|---|---|---|
| 2020 | $426,504 | 76.3% |
| 2021 | $428,926 | 0.6% |
| 2022 | $525,919 | 22.6% |
| 2023 | $544,272 | 3.5% |
| 2024 | $627,150 | 15.2% |
| Rank | Category | Medicaid Payments | Share of City Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | National Codes Established for State Medicaid Agencies | $2,146,037 | 4<0.1% |
| 2 | Medicine Services and Procedures | $1,138,823 | 21.2% |
| 3 | Dental Services | $627,150 | 11.7% |
| 4 | Evaluation and Management | $464,681 | 8.7% |
| 5 | Durable medical equipment (DME) Medicare administrative contractors (MACs) | $292,378 | 5.4% |
| 6 | Durable Medical Equipment | $268,930 | 5% |
| 7 | Orthotic Procedures and services | $171,389 | 3.2% |
| 8 | Anesthesia | $79,951 | 1.5% |
| 9 | Radiology Procedures | $40,974 | 0.8% |
| 10 | Procedures / Professional Services | $39,405 | 0.7% |
| 11 | Pathology and Laboratory Procedures | $39,156 | 0.7% |
| 12 | Vision Services | $28,593 | 0.5% |
| 13 | Administrative, Miscellaneous and Investigational | $22,631 | 0.4% |
| 14 | Temporary National Codes (Non-Medicare) | $10,222 | 0.2% |
| 15 | Temporary Codes | $539 | <0.1% |
| 16 | Surgery | $417 | <0.1% |
| 17 | Drugs Administered Other than Oral Method | $303 | <0.1% |
| HCPCS Code | Description | Medicaid Payments | Claims |
|---|---|---|---|
| D0120 | Periodic oral evaluation | $213,072 | 29 |
| D0272 | Dental bitewings two images | $108,759 | 22 |
| D0330 | Panoramic image | $68,999 | 18 |
| D0140 | Limit oral eval problm focus | $52,458 | 22 |
| D0150 | Comprehensve oral evaluation | $45,241 | 18 |
| D0270 | Dental bitewing single image | $44,002 | 12 |
| D0220 | Intraoral periapical first | $21,126 | 13 |
| D0230 | Intraoral periapical ea add | $20,797 | 13 |
| D0145 | Oral evaluation, pt < 3yrs | $18,788 | 12 |
| D0340 | 2d cephalometric image | $12,751 | 5 |
| D0240 | Intraoral occlusal film | $9,117 | 12 |
| D0470 | Diagnostic casts | $7,897 | 5 |
| D0350 | Oral/facial photo images | $4,140 | 5 |
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.