Essex Junction sees Medicaid dental payments jump to $5,820 in 2024

In Essex Junction, providers billed a total of $5,820 for Medicaid services in the Dental Services category in 2024, based on the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Medicaid Provider Spending database. This total marked a 1112.5% rise over 2023, when claims totaled $480 for similar services.

Medicaid is a public insurance program administered by states and financed through a partnership of federal and state governments. It offers coverage to low-income adults and families, seniors, children, and individuals with disabilities, constituting a major component of the nation’s health system.

Since Medicaid is funded with taxpayer dollars, fluctuations in billing levels at the local level indicate how community health funds are used.

The “Dental Services” label is assigned according to HCPCS and CPT code groupings, distinguishing the services based on clinical care provided. For this report, every billing code is included within one service category by using systematic code prefixes and numbers, ensuring related services are grouped for analysis without duplicating counts or distorting category rankings over the years.

While Medicaid spending increased in several service areas, Dental Services ranked sixth by total Medicaid payments in Essex Junction for 2024.

Statewide in Vermont, Dental Services ranked seventh by total Medicaid spending that year.

The previous five years saw a $1,306, or 28.9%, overall increase in Medicaid payments connected to Dental Services in Essex Junction. Growth in spending picked up at key periods, with sharp annual gains noted for 2023 and 2021.

Most Dental Services spending was distributed throughout the city, but payments were concentrated in just a few ZIP codes. In 2024, ZIP code 05452 led with $5,820, accounting for all Medicaid payments in this service category within Essex Junction that year.

Medicaid payments for Dental Services were further focused in a select group of billing codes within the category.

For comparison, Medicaid payments for Dental Services in Essex Junction climbed 1112.5% between 2024 and 2023, whereas overall Medicaid claim categories saw a 17.2% increase locally over the same span.

According to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, combined federal and state spending on Medicaid totaled an estimated $871.7 billion in fiscal year 2023, about 18% of total U.S. health expenditures. That represents an increase from $613.5 billion in 2019, prior to the COVID-19 pandemic.

This rise amounts to a nearly 40% growth over several years, prompted by rising enrollment and greater service use during and following the pandemic.

Federal budget laws under the Trump administration recently proposed major reductions in federal Medicaid funding and changes to program design. The “One Big Beautiful Bill Act,” implemented in 2025, aims to trim more than $1 trillion from Medicaid spending across a decade. It includes provisions for work requirements and higher cost-sharing, measures that may reduce benefits or funding for certain groups. The result could be greater costs on states and slower growth in federal support, though the program would continue to serve tens of millions of people.

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.