An Analysis of Political Contributions from Neurosurgeons in the United States

Background As the uncertainty surrounding the future of U.S. health care policy intensifies, political advocacy and campaign contributions have become increasingly relevant. This study describes the trends of political contributions of U.S. neurosurgeons from the years 2003–2019. Methods Individual contribution data from 2003–2019 were obtained from the Federal Election Commission website. Contributions were filtered for occupation lines matching either “neurosurg,” “neurologic surgeon,” or “neurological surgeon.” Each contribution is designated to a recipient committee associated with a political candidate or group. The party designations of these committees were used to catalogue donations as “Republican,” “Democratic,” or “Independent.” Results From 2003–2019 a total of 9242 political donations were made by self-identified neurosurgeons amounting to $8,469,121. Most of these contribution dollars were directed to Independent committees (47.9%). Of all Independent contribution dollars from 2005–2019, 95.9% were directed to the American Association of Neurological Surgeons Political Action Committee. The total number of unique contributions increased from 442 contributions in 2003 to 650 in 2019. Democrats experienced the most substantial increase in support, from 4.8% of all contribution dollars in 2003 to 26.3% in 2019. Republican support was noted to be more widespread across the United States compared with Democratic support. Conclusions Political contributions from U.S. neurosurgeons have increased steadily over time. Donations were largely Independent but became increasingly partisan in recent years. Overall, this displays an increase in political involvement among the neurosurgeon community. Future studies are warranted into how this involvement translates to representative health policy.