State-to-State Variation in Medicaid Reimbursement for Neurosurgical Procedures: Implications for Healthcare Access in Vulnerable Populations.

Background And Objectives: Medicaid payment for healthcare services traditionally reimburses less than Medicare and commercial insurance. This disparity in reimbursement seems to be an important driver of limited access to care among Medicaid beneficiaries. This study seeks to examine the degree of variation in Medicaid and Medicare reimbursement for the most common neurosurgical current procedural terminology codes and determine its potential impact on provider accessibility.

Health Care Lobbying, Political Action Committees, and Spine Surgery.

Study Design: Retrospective review.

Objective: The aim of this study was to analyze the political contributions and strategies of the Political Action Committee (PACs) lobbying for the political interests of spine surgeons.

Summary Of Background Data: In 2016, a presidential election year, $514,224,628 was spent on health care lobbying.