Decreasing Medicare Payments for Anterior Cervical Discectomy and Fusion From 2013 to 2023
While unadjusted Medicare reimbursement for ACDF remained stable from 2013 to 2023, inflation-adjusted reimbursement declined substantially, reflecting an erosion in surgeon compensation. These findings raise concerns about the financial sustainability of providing ACDF services in the Medicare population and underscore the need for policy strategies that protect access to surgical care for an aging population.
Authors
- Jason Silvestre (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5831-0760)
- John W. Moore (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1079-1200)
- Robert J. Ferdon (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0008-1885-5812)
- Anthony J. Minerva (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0000-1541-3551)
- Charles A Reitman
- Robert A Ravinsky
- James P Lawrence
Institutions
- Medical University of South Carolina (US)
Publication Details
- Journal
- Neurosurgery
- Published
- 2026-02-06
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1227/neu.0000000000003953
- Primary Topic
- Cervical and Thoracic Myelopathy
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 0.00