Medicaid spending on pathology and lab services in Manteca surged 195.7% in 2024

Data from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Medicaid Provider Spending database shows Medicaid providers in Manteca billed $3,709,794 for Pathology and Laboratory Procedures services in 2024. This was a 195.7% jump from 2023, when the total billing for the same services reached $1,254,458.

Medicaid, a large public health insurance program funded through both federal and state governments and administered by the states, provides coverage for low-income individuals and families, seniors, children and people with disabilities, making it one of the largest components of the U.S. health care system.

Because Medicaid is funded by taxpayers, local variations in claims reflect how community health care resources are distributed.

The “Pathology and Laboratory Procedures” group includes Medicaid-billed services defined by care type, using standardized HCPCS and CPT code ranges and prefixes. For this review, each code was matched to a single service group using consistent classifications, enabling analysis while preventing duplicate counts and preserving accurate category rankings over time.

Medicaid expenditures increased across several service types, with Pathology and Laboratory Procedures ranking fourth among Manteca’s Medicaid payment categories in 2024.

Statewide in California, Pathology and Laboratory Procedures placed fifth in total Medicaid payments for 2024.

From five years prior to 2024, Medicaid payments for Pathology and Laboratory Procedures in Manteca rose by $3,111,661, or 520.2%. The growth rate was especially strong in selected years, including notable year-on-year increases in 2022 and 2021.

Citywide spending for these services showed some geographic concentration, with a handful of ZIP codes accounting for the bulk of Medicaid payments. In 2024, ZIP code 95336 saw $2,843,167 in Medicaid payments for the category, and 95337 tallied $866,626. Combined, these two ZIP codes represented all Medicaid payments for Pathology and Laboratory Procedures in Manteca during the year.

Medicaid payments in this service group were heavily centered on a small number of billing codes.

Between 2024 and 2023, Medicaid payments for Pathology and Laboratory Procedures in Manteca increased by 195.7%, compared with a 13.2% rise across all Medicaid claims in the city over the same timeframe.

According to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, the federal and state government together spent approximately $871.7 billion on Medicaid in fiscal year 2023. This equaled about 18% of all health expenditures nationally. Before the COVID-19 pandemic in 2019, that total was about $613.5 billion.

This marks an increase of about 40% in a few years, driven largely by more signups and higher use during and after the pandemic.

Major federal budget measures under the Trump administration have proposed deep reductions in federal Medicaid funding and program restructuring. The “One Big Beautiful Bill Act,” signed into law in 2025, is estimated to reduce federal Medicaid spending by over $1 trillion over the next 10 years, adding new policies such as work requirements and higher cost-sharing, potentially decreasing coverage and funding for some people. These policy changes are expected to shift more financial responsibility to states and slow the increase in federal Medicaid support, even as the program continues to serve millions across the country.

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.