In 2024, Goldsboro Medicaid providers submitted $1,325,467 in claims for the Dental Services category, data from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Medicaid Provider Spending database shows. That amount was 7.3% higher than 2023, when dental service claims reached $1,235,618.
Medicaid, a public health insurance program managed at the state level and funded by both federal and state budgets, covers people with low incomes, seniors, children and those with disabilities, making it a significant part of the overall U.S. health care landscape.
As Medicaid payments come from public tax dollars, shifts in local billing totals highlight the way health care funding is distributed in particular communities.
The “Dental Services” category groups Medicaid-billed care using specific HCPCS and CPT codes. For this analysis, each code was assigned to a single service category based on standardized prefixes and numeric classifications. This ensured services were grouped accurately for trend comparisons and prevented duplicate counts in the rankings over time.
Dentistry was the sixth largest Medicaid expense in Goldsboro for 2024, falling behind several other care categories by payment volume.
Across North Carolina, Dental Services ranked ninth by total Medicaid payouts in 2024.
Between 2019 and 2024, Goldsboro’s Medicaid spending on Dental Services jumped by $501,325, or 60.8%. Local spending also saw notable jumps in both 2021 and 2023 in year-over-year comparisons.
Medicaid dental service payments were focused mainly in select ZIP codes. In 2024, ZIP code 27530 accounted for $893,997 and ZIP code 27534 for $431,469—together making up the total for Goldsboro’s Medicaid dental service payments that year.
Payments were further concentrated into a small sampling of different dental billing codes.
Dental Service Medicaid payments in Goldsboro increased by 7.3% compared to the previous year. In contrast, the overall Medicaid claim categories in the city grew 3.1% over the same timeframe.
According to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, federal and state Medicaid disbursements combined to reach about $871.7 billion during the 2023 fiscal year—making up almost 18% of U.S. national health expenditures, compared with roughly $613.5 billion in 2019 prior to COVID-19.
That growth signal represents about a 40% increase in just a few years, as expanded eligibility and greater use during and after the pandemic contributed to higher spending.
Recent U.S. federal budgets signed under the Trump administration included new measures reducing the federal Medicaid contribution and revamping the structure. For instance, the “One Big Beautiful Bill Act,” enacted in 2025, is poised to decrease federal Medicaid funds by over $1 trillion over 10 years and add restrictions like work requirements and escalated cost-sharing, which could lower coverage and shift increased costs to states even as millions depend on the program.
| Year | Total Medicaid Payments | % Change From Previous Year |
|---|---|---|
| 2020 | $824,142 | -7.8% |
| 2021 | $1,129,408 | 37% |
| 2022 | $1,171,369 | 3.7% |
| 2023 | $1,235,618 | 5.5% |
| 2024 | $1,325,466 | 7.3% |
| Rank | Category | Medicaid Payments | Share of City Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Alcohol and Drug Abuse Treatment | $17,335,064 | 30.3% |
| 2 | Evaluation and Management | $17,095,630 | 29.8% |
| 3 | Medicine Services and Procedures | $11,260,524 | 19.7% |
| 4 | National Codes Established for State Medicaid Agencies | $3,808,852 | 6.6% |
| 5 | Temporary National Codes (Non-Medicare) | $1,753,436 | 3.1% |
| 6 | Dental Services | $1,325,466 | 2.3% |
| 7 | Ambulance and Other Transport Services and Supplies | $1,221,776 | 2.1% |
| 8 | Pathology and Laboratory Procedures | $1,175,897 | 2.1% |
| 9 | Radiology Procedures | $674,847 | 1.2% |
| 10 | Surgery | $644,625 | 1.1% |
| 11 | Drugs Administered Other than Oral Method | $404,690 | 0.7% |
| 12 | Procedures / Professional Services | $252,098 | 0.4% |
| 13 | Durable Medical Equipment | $143,886 | 0.3% |
| 14 | Medical And Surgical Supplies | $104,680 | 0.2% |
| 15 | Temporary Codes | $38,136 | 0.1% |
| 16 | Enteral and Parenteral Therapy | $20,955 | <0.1% |
| 17 | Durable medical equipment (DME) Medicare administrative contractors (MACs) | $11,684 | <0.1% |
| 18 | Anesthesia | $5,155 | <0.1% |
| 19 | Administrative, Miscellaneous and Investigational | $0 | <0.1% |
| HCPCS Code | Description | Medicaid Payments | Claims |
|---|---|---|---|
| D0120 | Periodic oral evaluation | $310,573 | 113 |
| D0150 | Comprehensve oral evaluation | $149,168 | 102 |
| D0220 | Intraoral periapical first | $145,582 | 124 |
| D0330 | Panoramic image | $140,586 | 99 |
| D0145 | Oral evaluation, pt < 3yrs | $136,389 | 174 |
| D0230 | Intraoral periapical ea add | $126,917 | 107 |
| D0140 | Limit oral eval problm focus | $111,339 | 87 |
| D0274 | Bitewings four images | $104,491 | 103 |
| D0272 | Dental bitewings two images | $64,691 | 40 |
| D0240 | Intraoral occlusal film | $35,725 | 23 |
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.
