Santa Ana Medicaid paid $419,379 for COVID-19 care in 2024

At least $419,379 in Medicaid payments in Santa Ana during 2024 went to services billed under HCPCS codes specifically linked to COVID-19, according to data compiled from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Medicaid Provider Spending database.

Medicaid is a government-run health insurance program overseen by the states and funded by a partnership between federal and state governments. It provides coverage for low-income individuals, families, older adults, children and people living with disabilities, making it one of the largest segments of U.S. health care.

Since Medicaid spending relies on taxpayer dollars, shifts in billing at the city level illustrate how a community’s public health resources are being spent.

For the purposes of this report, COVID-19–related activity includes only services marked as “COVID-19” or “coronavirus” via HCPCS coding in billing files or classification data. The spending reported here therefore features only those cases explicitly categorized as COVID-related, and does not reflect pandemic-associated medical services billed under broader or non-specific codes.

Elsewhere in California, San Jose saw the highest Medicaid spending on COVID-19–associated services for 2024, at $5,601,479 in qualifying claims.

In Santa Ana, there were 11 providers who submitted Medicaid claims for COVID-19–linked services last year. A significant portion came from billing under the COVID Specific code, which totaled $375,769 for the year.

Average per-provider Medicaid payments in Santa Ana for COVID-19–coded services reached $38,125 in 2024, which is below the statewide average payment of $52,976.

During the pandemic timeframe, claims designated as COVID-19–specific comprised a documented driver of Medicaid spending growth in Santa Ana.

Total Medicaid spending in all categories aside from explicitly COVID-related claims rose by $72,979,434 from 2020 to 2024, amounting to a 39.7% increase over that period.

For reference, annual Medicaid payments in Santa Ana during the two years leading up to the pandemic averaged $168,310,523.

According to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, joint federal and state spending on Medicaid in the 2023 fiscal year reached $871.7 billion, which was about 18% of national health spending. That reflects an increase up from $613.5 billion in 2019, before the impact of COVID-19.

The change marks an uptick of around 40% within just a few years, largely affecting the program by expanding enrollment and driving higher usage throughout and following the pandemic.

Recent federal budget measures during the Trump administration featured sweeping efforts to reduce future federal Medicaid spending and change some key program rules. For instance, the “One Big Beautiful Bill Act,” signed in 2025, is set to trim more than $1 trillion from Medicaid over 10 years and places new requirements on some recipients while introducing extra cost-sharing. These adjustments are expected to increase costs to states and limit federal funding growth, changing program coverage for millions of Americans.

Note: Includes HCPCS codes explicitly labeled for COVID-19 services; totals do not represent all pandemic-related health care spending.

Data contained in this story is based on figures from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Medicaid Provider Spending database. Original source data is available here.