Disparities in Elective Spine Surgery for Medicaid Beneficiaries: A Systematic Review.

This letter to the editor discusses a systematic review on the disparities in elective spine surgery for Medicaid beneficiaries. The authors focused on two common spine procedures, ACDF and lumbar fusions, and found that Medicaid insurance status was associated with decreased access, lower reimbursement, and worse health outcomes. The authors suggest that future analyses should explore the overlap of disparities in factors such as socioeconomic status, race, insurance, area deprivation index, and health literacy. The authors declare no conflicts of interest and received no financial support for the research. [Extracted from the article]