Costa Mesa Medicaid COVID-19 claims reach $780,110 in 2024

At least $780,110 in Medicaid payments were made in Costa Mesa for services officially coded as COVID-19 related in 2024, based on data from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Medicaid Provider Spending database.

Medicaid is a state-administered public health insurance program funded jointly by state and federal governments. The program serves low-income residents, children, seniors, and people with disabilities, representing one of the largest portions of the American health care landscape.

Because taxpayer contributions fund Medicaid, fluctuations in billing reflect how community health care resources are distributed.

Researchers classified COVID-19–related services by identifying HCPCS codes with billing descriptions or reference data identifying them as “COVID-19” or “coronavirus.” Consequently, this analysis accounts for only those services directly flagged as COVID-related in billing data and may not include care connected to the pandemic billed under other codes.

For comparison, San Jose reported the most Medicaid COVID-19 service payments among California communities in 2024, with $5,601,479 in claims related to the virus.

In Costa Mesa, two providers billed Medicaid for COVID-19–related services in 2024. The most frequently billed code was COVID Specific, with a total of $767,151.

On average, Costa Mesa Medicaid providers received $390,055 each for COVID-19–related services in 2024, compared with the state average of $52,976.

COVID-19–specific claims contributed to only a small portion of the rise in Costa Mesa’s Medicaid spending during the pandemic years.

All other claim categories combined saw total Medicaid payments increase by $63,870,513 between 2020 and 2024, or a gain of 347%.

In the two years before the pandemic, annual Medicaid payments in Costa Mesa averaged $16,114,904.

According to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, combined federal and state Medicaid spending was nearly $871.7 billion in fiscal year 2023, comprising about 18% of the country’s total health spending. That marks a substantial increase from roughly $613.5 billion in 2019, before the COVID-19 pandemic.

The growth represents an increase of approximately 40% over several years, mostly attributed to expanded enrollment and higher usage during and after the pandemic period.

Recent federal legislation introduced under the Trump administration included notable proposals to decrease the federal share of Medicaid funding and overhaul the structure of the program. For instance, the “One Big Beautiful Bill Act,” enacted in 2025, is expected to reduce federal Medicaid spending by more than $1 trillion over the next decade. New policies, such as work requirements and increased cost-sharing, could restrict access and funding for some recipients. These adjustments are projected to place more responsibility on states and curb federal Medicaid growth, even as the program continues to provide coverage for tens of millions nationwide.

Note: Data includes only HCPCS codes explicitly identified as COVID-19 services. Figures do not represent all spending linked to the pandemic.

Information for this report was sourced from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Medicaid Provider Spending database. The original data is available here.