Santa Barbara sees $117,330 in Medicaid COVID-19 payments in 2024

At least $117,330 in Medicaid payments for COVID-19 services was reported in Santa Barbara for 2024, according to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Medicaid Provider Spending database.

Medicaid, a public health insurance initiative managed by individual states and jointly funded by federal and state governments, covers low-income residents, seniors, children, and people with disabilities, making it a key segment of the national health care system.

Since Medicaid payments originate from taxpayer funds, shifts in local billing provide insight into public health care investments within a given community.

For this report, COVID-19–related payments encompass only HCPCS codes whose billing details or references were labeled as “COVID-19” or “coronavirus”-related. The figures therefore capture services directly named in billing as COVID-related and do not include care billed via broader or differently titled codes.

By way of comparison, San Jose had the largest total in the state for Medicaid payments linked to COVID-19 care in 2024, with $5,601,479 billed for such services.

In 2024, six Santa Barbara providers processed Medicaid claims for COVID-19–related services. The code COVID Specific generated the largest amount, totaling $113,730.

On average, Medicaid providers in Santa Barbara received $19,555 each for COVID-19–related claims in 2024, below the statewide mean of $52,976.

During the pandemic era, services specific to COVID-19 played a notable role in driving Medicaid payment growth in Santa Barbara.

Across all claim types, overall Medicaid payments in the area increased by $8,358,835 between 2020 and 2024, equating to a 10.6% rise.

In the two years before the pandemic, Santa Barbara averaged $70,186,823 annually in Medicaid payments.

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services reports that combined federal and state Medicaid spending reached roughly $871.7 billion in fiscal 2023, or about 18% of national health expenditures, compared with around $613.5 billion in 2019, before the COVID-19 public health emergency.

This change marks about 40% growth in a short timespan, mainly due to increased enrollment and usage during and after the period of the pandemic.

Recent federal budget measures enacted under the Trump administration have sought to reduce federal Medicaid allocations and introduce program restructuring. As an example, the “One Big Beautiful Bill Act,”, which became law in 2025, is estimated to cut over $1 trillion from federal Medicaid over ten years. The act enacts policies like work requirements and added cost-sharing that could shrink coverage and funds for some recipients, shifting more responsibility to states and limiting federal support for Medicaid, even while it remains a critical resource for millions.

Note: Totals reflect only HCPCS codes directly labeled for COVID-19 services and do not capture all pandemic-associated health care spending.

Information for this report was drawn from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Medicaid Provider Spending database. Access the underlying data here.