Mark Spatola, MD, FAANS (left), presents a NeurosurgeryPAC check to Florida Representative Cliff Stearns after meeting with him and discussing issues affecting neurosurgeons, including Medicare payments for specialists, medical liability reform
and the Medicare Patient Empowerment Act.

NeurosurgeryPAC is a valuable and important component of organized neurosurgery’s legislative agenda. Together with advocacy (i.e. direct lobbying by our Washington office) and grassroots support, the PAC is the third leg of a solid political stool. By providing financial donations for the election of representatives who support our efforts, and share our philosophy and attitudes about government, we provide a means by which all neurosurgeons can participate in some way to help advance this agenda. Additionally, the PAC is a strategic tool that allows neurosurgery’s voice to be heard loud and clear on Capitol Hill. But this voice also must be heard back home.

Establishing a personal relationship with your elected members of Congress in Washington, D.C., is a crucial mechanism in educating these representatives about the priority issues of organized neurosurgery. But even more important in building this relationship is to continue this contact in your home district. And NeurosurgeryPAC can help.

As a contributor and member of the board of directors to NeurosurgeryPAC, I recently was honored to deliver a NeurosurgeryPAC check for $2,500 to Representative Cliff Stearns, R-Fla., 6th District. I received the request by special delivery from Katie Orrico, Director of the Washington Office of the American Association of Neurological Surgeons/Congress of Neurological Surgeons. In addition to the check, there were explicit instructions from Ms. Orrico, along with contact information and talking points. These addressed Rep. Stearns’ sponsorship and support for three current bills for which NeurosurgeryPAC is lobbying, as well as his committee memberships in Congress. I believe the decision to support Cliff Stearns was wise. In addition to being a friend of neurosurgery and its goals, he faces reelection difficulties due to redistricting uncertainties in Florida.

I called the congressman’s local office in Jacksonville, Fla., to offer to discuss these issues, adding that I had a PAC check to deliver. I arranged a lunch meeting at my office with the congressman and his chief of staff, district manager, and local secretary. The contact information provided in the PAC letter, as well as the congressman’s website, provided excellent starting points. I made a point of inviting as many staffers as were willing to come.

The topics of discussion included the difference between neurology and neurosurgery, local hospitals, and medical news. Rep. Stearns commented on how smart doctors had to be — neurosurgeons, in particular. I took these remarks as an opening to comment on how this should be reflected in Medicare payments for specialists, rather than the recent trend of decreasing specialty reimbursement. I also brought up his support of the HEALTH Act (medical liability reform), the Medicare Decisions Accountability Act (repeal of the Independent Payment Advisory Board) and the Medicare Patient Empowerment Act (allowing physicians and patients to privately contract without penalty).

I also was able to discuss with Rep. Stearns my costs for malpractice insurance and how proposed 20-percent Medicare cuts would result in closer to an effective 50-percent reduction in income, if enacted, due to overhead costs. In addition, we talked about how physicians were ending participation in Medicaid and Medicare, and the potentially greater numbers that may do so in the future with continued cuts and increasing regulation.

The congressman was interested, as a member of the House Committee of Veterans Affairs, in hearing about traumatic brain injury. We discussed the increasing trend toward doctor employment and the difficulties of staying in private practice. He asked me to describe a typical patient encounter. Rep. Stearns also was interested in what Medicare requires, and we visited problems we have had with Medicare in the past.

Ultimately, I was able to have a one-on-one conversation with Rep. Stearns for 45 minutes. At the end, I presented him with a letter incorporating NeurosurgeryPAC’s talking points on my own letterhead, plus the check, and exchanged contact information with his staff members. We also took photos together.

I hope that describing this encounter may serve as an informal template for other NeurosurgeryPAC endorsements in the future. We need to do more than just write checks — we also must make contacts, build relationships and state our case. [Editor’s Note: To locate your local representative in Congress, visit www.house.gov.] I believe it is important for our PAC to thrive and grow, as neurosurgery faces ongoing threats from numerous fronts within the government for the foreseeable future. NeurosurgeryPAC offers a unique platform for lobbying on issues that will only affect our neurosurgical practices. It also is critical that we engage members of Congress who already support our positions and display our gratitude.

It is crucial that neurosurgeons donate to NeurosurgeryPAC, get involved and create contact with our legislators for the inevitable battles to come.

Once again, it was my honor to deliver funds on behalf of NeurosurgeryPAC. For more information on NeurosurgeryPAC and how you can participate, please contact Katie Orrico at korrico@neurosurgery.org or Adrienne Roberts at aroberts@neurosurgery.org, or visit the PAC website at http://www.aans.org/en/Legislative%20Activities/NeurosurgeryPAC.aspx.

Mark Spatola, MD, FAANS, is chief of the Section of Neurosurgery and moderator for the board of trustees at the Orange Park Medical Center in Orange Park, Fla. He also serves as courtesy assistant professor for the Department of Neurosurgery at the University of Florida in Gainesville, Fla. He can be reached via e-mail at markspatola@me.com.