San Diego Medicaid payments for Temporary National Codes (Non-Medicare) climb 7.5% in 2024

In 2024, Medicaid providers in San Diego billed $1,421,170 for services categorized as Temporary National Codes (Non-Medicare), according to data reported by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Medicaid Provider Spending database. This reflects a 7.5% increase from 2023, when claims for the same service type totaled $1,321,895.

Medicaid, a joint state and federal program, offers health insurance to low-income individuals and families, seniors, children, and people with disabilities, making it a major part of the U.S. health system. The program is funded jointly by federal and state governments.

Since Medicaid spending is sourced from taxpayers, changes in local billing provide insights into how public health care resources are distributed within a community.

The “Temporary National Codes (Non-Medicare)” group encompasses Medicaid-billed services identified by specific care types, utilizing standardized HCPCS and CPT codes. For this analysis, each billable code was placed into one service category using established code ranges and prefixes, ensuring related services could be tracked together and eliminating double counting for more accurate rankings over time.

Among service categories with increased Medicaid spending, Temporary National Codes (Non-Medicare) led San Diego by total Medicaid payments in 2024.

Statewide in Texas, Temporary National Codes (Non-Medicare) also held the top position by total Medicaid payments in 2024.

Between 2019 and 2024, Medicaid payments for the Temporary National Codes (Non-Medicare) category in San Diego grew by $890,098, representing a 167.6% increase. The rate of spending growth rose more substantially during some years, with significant annual gains seen in 2021 and 2020.

Although services in the Temporary National Codes (Non-Medicare) category were delivered throughout the city, payments were primarily concentrated in a few ZIP codes. In 2024, ZIP code 78384 accounted for $1,421,169 in payments, meaning the top 1 ZIP code made up 100% of all Medicaid payments associated with the category in San Diego for the year.

Within this category, Medicaid payments were also focused on a small set of individual billing codes.

By comparison, Medicaid payments for the Temporary National Codes (Non-Medicare) category in San Diego rose by 7.5% from 2023 to 2024, whereas claims across all Medicaid categories in the city saw a 0.7% increase during the same period.

According to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, Medicaid spending by federal and state sources reached approximately $871.7 billion in fiscal 2023, contributing about 18% to the nation’s health care expenses, which marks a sharp rise from $613.5 billion in 2019, before the COVID-19 pandemic.

This nearly 40% growth over several years primarily resulted from increases in enrollment and service utilization during and following the pandemic.

Recent federal budget measures under the Trump administration have included major proposals to reduce Medicaid funding and restructure the program. The “One Big Beautiful Bill Act,” enacted in 2025, is projected to trim federal Medicaid spending by more than $1 trillion over the next decade. The law introduces work requirements and higher cost-sharing, which could limit coverage or funding for some recipients and shift more costs to states even as Medicaid continues to serve 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.