In 2024, Medicaid providers in Coachella billed $1,908,777 for Pathology and Laboratory Procedures services, as reported in the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Medicaid Provider Spending database. The total represents a 2.3% rise from 2023, when $1,865,878 in claims were submitted for services in this category.
Medicaid is a public health insurance program overseen by states and financed cooperatively by federal and state governments. It provides coverage for low-income individuals and families, seniors, children, and people with disabilities, making it one of the largest components of the U.S. health care system.
Since Medicaid funds originate from taxpayers, local changes in billing reflect how public health care dollars are distributed within a community.
The “Pathology and Laboratory Procedures” classification includes Medicaid-billed services grouped by the specific type of care, using consistent HCPCS and CPT code prefixes and numeric ranges. Each code was assigned to a unique service category for this analysis to enable meaningful comparison of related services, avoid double counting, and maintain accurate rankings across different periods.
Although Medicaid spending rose in several service categories, Pathology and Laboratory Procedures ranked third among Coachella categories by total Medicaid payments in 2024.
On a state level, Pathology and Laboratory Procedures was the fifth-largest category in California by total Medicaid payments for the year.
From 2019 through 2024, Medicaid payments for Pathology and Laboratory Procedures in Coachella climbed by $1,285,286, or 206.1%, with growth accelerating in certain periods, particularly during 2022 and 2021.
While these Medicaid payments were spread across the city, they tended to be concentrated within a few ZIP codes. In 2024, ZIP code 92236 accounted for $1,908,776 in payments related to this category. Altogether, the top 1 ZIP code was responsible for 100% of all related Medicaid payments in Coachella that year.
Within the broader Pathology and Laboratory Procedures category, most Medicaid payments focused on a relatively small number of individual billing codes.
For comparison, Medicaid payments linked to Pathology and Laboratory Procedures in Coachella increased by 2.3% from 2023 to 2024, whereas overall Medicaid claim payments in the city grew by 1.3% during the same period.
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services reports that combined state and federal Medicaid expenditures reached about $871.7 billion in fiscal year 2023, making up roughly 18% of all U.S. national health spending, which is a notable rise from about $613.5 billion in 2019, prior to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The nearly 40% growth over just a few years was fueled mainly by expanded enrollment and increased utilization during and after the pandemic.
Federal budget legislation during the Trump administration included major proposals aimed at reducing federal Medicaid spending and altering the program’s structure. The “One Big Beautiful Bill Act,” signed in 2025, is estimated to decrease federal Medicaid outlays by over $1 trillion over the coming decade. It introduces measures like work requirements and heightened cost-sharing that could limit coverage and funding for certain beneficiaries. As a result, more costs are expected to shift to states, potentially slowing federal spending growth, even as millions continue relying on Medicaid.
| Year | Total Medicaid Payments | % Change From Previous Year |
|---|---|---|
| 2020 | $623,491 | 8.1% |
| 2021 | $970,079 | 55.6% |
| 2022 | $1,636,084 | 68.7% |
| 2023 | $1,865,878 | 14% |
| 2024 | $1,908,776 | 2.3% |
| Rank | Category | Medicaid Payments | Share of City Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | National Codes Established for State Medicaid Agencies | $3,659,985 | 31.2% |
| 2 | Evaluation and Management | $1,925,343 | 16.4% |
| 3 | Pathology and Laboratory Procedures | $1,908,776 | 16.3% |
| 4 | Temporary National Codes (Non-Medicare) | $1,346,410 | 11.5% |
| 5 | Medicine Services and Procedures | $1,319,099 | 11.2% |
| 6 | Dental Services | $881,081 | 7.5% |
| 7 | Drugs Administered Other than Oral Method | $429,498 | 3.7% |
| 8 | Surgery | $160,592 | 1.4% |
| 9 | Radiology Procedures | $49,702 | 0.4% |
| 10 | Medical And Surgical Supplies | $44,183 | 0.4% |
| 11 | Procedures / Professional Services | $12,853 | 0.1% |
| 12 | Temporary Codes | $2,558 | <0.1% |
| 13 | Vision Services | $805 | <0.1% |
| 14 | Alcohol and Drug Abuse Treatment | $0 | <0.1% |
| 14 | Anesthesia | $0 | <0.1% |
| 14 | Screening Procedures | $0 | <0.1% |
| HCPCS Code | Description | Medicaid Payments | Claims |
|---|---|---|---|
| 87491 | Chlmyd trach dna amp probe | $606,922 | 12 |
| 87591 | N.gonorrhoeae dna amp prob | $601,212 | 11 |
| 87661 | Trichomonas vaginalis amplif | $333,954 | 11 |
| 87806 | Hiv ag w/hiv1&2 antb w/optic | $296,144 | 169 |
| 81025 | Urine pregnancy test | $26,570 | 224 |
| 87529 | Hsv dna amp probe | $17,417 | 11 |
| 83986 | Assay ph body fluid nos | $12,552 | 137 |
| 87210 | Smear wet mount saline/ink | $8,344 | 101 |
| 81002 | Urinalysis nonauto w/o scope | $2,052 | 70 |
| 85018 | Hemoglobin | $1,665 | 160 |
| 87650 | Strep a dna dir probe | $653 | 2 |
| 88150 | Cytopath c/v manual | $630 | 2 |
| 86580 | Tb intradermal test | $146 | 18 |
| 81003 | Urinalysis auto w/o scope | $95 | 114 |
| 82947 | Assay glucose blood quant | $56 | 87 |
| 83970 | Assay of parathormone | $34 | 7 |
| 84466 | Assay of transferrin | $32 | 10 |
| 87340 | Hepatitis b surface ag ia | $27 | 10 |
| 83540 | Assay of iron | $22 | 10 |
| 82977 | Assay of ggt | $19 | 10 |
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.
