Conover Medicaid spending for Dental Services up 44.7% in 2024

In 2024, Medicaid providers in Conover submitted $70,928 in claims for services in the Dental Services category, data from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Medicaid Provider Spending database show. This represents a 44.7% jump compared with 2023, when the same providers billed $49,013 for similar services.

Medicaid, which is jointly funded by the federal and state governments and managed by the states, serves low-income individuals, children, seniors, and people with disabilities, making it a significant component of the U.S. health care system. More on funding is available at the Commonwealth Fund.

Because taxpayer dollars fund Medicaid payments, trends in local billing provide a view into how public health care resources are distributed within the community.

The “Dental Services” designation includes a standardized set of care types as defined by HCPCS and CPT code groupings. For the purposes of this report, individual billing codes are assigned to a single, consistent service category through prefix and numeric ranges. This allows analysts to group related services together without double counting and maintain accurate category rankings across reporting periods.

Although several service categories saw Medicaid payment increases, Dental Services ranked ninth by total spending in Conover in 2024.

Statewide in North Carolina, Dental Services also placed ninth among Medicaid payment categories by total amount in 2024.

From 2019 through 2024, Medicaid payments associated with Dental Services in Conover rose by $23,728—a 50.3% increase. Certain years, such as 2020 and 2021, saw particularly significant year-over-year growth in spending.

While Dental Services payments were distributed throughout Conover, the bulk of Medicaid spending occurred within a few ZIP codes. ZIP code 28613, for example, accounted for $70,927 in Dental Services claims in 2024. That ZIP code alone represented 100% of all Medicaid payments for the Dental Services category in the city for the year.

Within the Dental Services classification, most Medicaid payments were linked to a concentrated group of billing codes.

Between 2023 and 2024, Medicaid spending on Dental Services in Conover climbed 44.7%, while total Medicaid payments across all categories rose 11.7% in the city over the same period.

Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services data show that combined federal and state Medicaid expenditures reached about $871.7 billion in fiscal 2023, making up roughly 18% of the nation’s health outlays, up from $613.5 billion in 2019, before the COVID-19 pandemic.

This represents close to a 40% increase over several years, driven by broader enrollment and greater utilization of services during and after the pandemic.

Recent federal budget laws under the Trump administration have proposed major reductions and program changes. The “One Big Beautiful Bill Act,” enacted in 2025, is expected to reduce federal Medicaid spending by more than $1 trillion over 10 years. It introduces new requirements such as work mandates and added cost-sharing, potentially reducing coverage and federal funding for some recipients. These shifts may increase state responsibilities and limit the future growth of federal support, even as Medicaid continues to serve tens of millions of people.

Note: HCPCS codes are listed for context within the category. Total and ranking figures cited in this piece are based on grouped service classifications, not individual billing codes.

Details in this report are sourced from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Medicaid Provider Spending database. Source data are available here.