In 2024, Medicaid providers in Bonners Ferry billed $295,679 for services under the Dental Services category, according to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Medicaid Provider Spending database. This represents a 4327% jump over the amount providers billed in 2023, when claims in this category totaled $6,679.
Medicaid, a public health insurance program administered by states and funded jointly by federal and state governments, covers low-income residents, seniors, children, and those with disabilities. It remains one of the largest components of the American health care system.
Because taxpayer dollars fund Medicaid, shifts in local billing levels indicate how public health care resources are distributed within communities.
The “Dental Services” category encompasses a set of Medicaid-billed services identified by specific care types, as determined through standardized HCPCS and CPT groupings. For this report, billing codes were assigned to a single service category using set code prefixes and number ranges, grouping related services while avoiding duplicated counting and ensuring ranking accuracy across periods.
Spending across several Medicaid service categories climbed, with Dental Services ranking second by total Medicaid payments in Bonners Ferry for 2024.
On a statewide basis, Dental Services ranked seventh overall for total Medicaid payments in Idaho in 2024.
Between 2019 and 2024, Medicaid payments associated with Dental Services in Bonners Ferry grew by $285,093, a 2693.1% increase. Growth in spending accelerated during certain periods, particularly in 2023 and 2022.
Although Dental Services payments were issued throughout Bonners Ferry, the amounts were primarily concentrated in a limited number of ZIP codes. In 2024, ZIP code 83805 accounted for $295,678, making up 100% of Medicaid dental spending that year in the city.
Payments within the Dental Services category were heavily focused on just a small group of billing codes.
Comparatively, the 4327% increase in Medicaid payments for Dental Services from 2023 to 2024 far outpaced the 5.2% rise seen across all Medicaid claim categories in Bonners Ferry during the same time frame.
According to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, Medicaid spending funded by both federal and state sources reached about $871.7 billion in fiscal 2023, which made up around 18% of total national health spending. That figure was up considerably from approximately $613.5 billion in 2019, before the COVID-19 pandemic.
This increase amounts to roughly 40% growth over a few years, fueled primarily by higher enrollment and utilization during and after the pandemic.
Recent federal budget actions during the Trump administration included major proposals to cut federal Medicaid funds and redesign the program. For instance, the “One Big Beautiful Bill Act,” enacted in 2025, is forecasted to reduce federal Medicaid outlays by more than $1 trillion over the next 10 years, with changes like work requirements and increased cost-sharing aimed at reducing coverage and shifting more responsibility to states.
| Year | Total Medicaid Payments | % Change From Previous Year |
|---|---|---|
| 2020 | $10,586 | -95.4% |
| 2023 | $6,679 | -36.9% |
| 2024 | $295,678 | 4326.9% |
| Rank | Category | Medicaid Payments | Share of City Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | National Codes Established for State Medicaid Agencies | $855,359 | 69.8% |
| 2 | Dental Services | $295,678 | 24.1% |
| 3 | Medicine Services and Procedures | $56,103 | 4.6% |
| 4 | Evaluation and Management | $13,274 | 1.1% |
| 5 | Ambulance and Other Transport Services and Supplies | $3,914 | 0.3% |
| 6 | Pathology and Laboratory Procedures | $877 | 0.1% |
| 7 | Surgery | $56 | <0.1% |
| 8 | Procedures / Professional Services | $0 | <0.1% |
| HCPCS Code | Description | Medicaid Payments | Claims |
|---|---|---|---|
| D0999 | Unspecified diagnostic proce | $295,678 | 13 |
| D0120 | Periodic oral evaluation | $0 | 11 |
| D0140 | Limit oral eval problm focus | $0 | 7 |
| D0150 | Comprehensve oral evaluation | $0 | 1 |
| D0220 | Intraoral periapical first | $0 | 3 |
| D0272 | Dental bitewings two images | $0 | 8 |
| D0274 | Bitewings four images | $0 | 10 |
| D0603 | Caries risk assess high risk | $0 | 5 |
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.
