Medicaid spending for pathology and lab procedures in Colton rises to $7,930,343 in 2024

In 2024, providers in Colton billed $7,930,343 to Medicaid for Pathology and Laboratory Procedures, based on data from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Medicaid Provider Spending database. This reflects an increase of 35.5% compared to 2023, when Medicaid claims for these services totaled $5,854,616.

Medicaid, a public health insurance initiative managed by states and funded by federal and state governments together, provides coverage for low-income residents, families, seniors, children, and people with disabilities. It remains a significant part of the U.S. health care framework.

As Medicaid funding comes from taxpayer dollars, fluctuations in local billing levels help illustrate how health care resources are allocated in communities.

The “Pathology and Laboratory Procedures” group consists of Medicaid-billed services defined by type of care, categorized using standardized HCPCS and CPT code ranges. This analysis assigns each code to a distinct service category using uniform code prefixes and numeric intervals, ensuring grouped services are reviewed collectively without double counting and preserving consistent rankings over time.

Spending rose in multiple Medicaid service categories, but Pathology and Laboratory Procedures ranked third for total Medicaid payments in Colton in 2024.

Statewide in California, Pathology and Laboratory Procedures was the fifth-largest Medicaid spending category in 2024 based on total payments.

From five years prior to 2024, Colton saw Medicaid payments for Pathology and Laboratory Procedures rise by $3,792,969, or 91.7%. The pace of growth was higher during certain intervals, especially in 2021 and 2020.

The distribution of spending on Pathology and Laboratory Procedures within the city was centered in a small number of ZIP codes. In 2024, ZIP code 92324 accounted for $7,930,343 in Medicaid payments, making up 100% of the claims for this category citywide during the year.

A select group of individual billing codes contributed the majority of Medicaid payments within the Pathology and Laboratory Procedures category.

Between 2024 and 2023, Medicaid payments in Colton for Pathology and Laboratory Procedures climbed 35.5%, while overall Medicaid claim categories in the city grew by 7.8% during the same timeframe.

According to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, state and federal Medicaid spending combined was about $871.7 billion in fiscal year 2023, representing approximately 18% of overall national health expenditures—a sharp rise from $613.5 billion in 2019, prior to the COVID-19 pandemic.

This increase amounts to approximately 40% growth in just a few years, mostly driven by expanded Medicaid enrollment and increased service use during and following the pandemic period.

Major federal budget measures under the Trump administration have brought proposals to cut federal Medicaid aid and restructure the program. The “One Big Beautiful Bill Act,” passed in 2025, is expected to reduce federal Medicaid spending by more than $1 trillion over the next decade and add measures such as work requirements and higher cost-sharing for certain participants. As a result, states may bear more costs and the pace of federal Medicaid support growth may slow, even as the program continues to provide coverage for tens of millions nationwide.

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.