You can look forward to overpayment demand letters -- based on audits by your recovery audit contractor (RAC) -- coming from your Medicare Administrative Contractor (MAC) or carrier, starting Jan. 1, 2012. Your MAC or carrier will now issue the demand letters, but everything else about the recoupment process will stay the same, including the 40-day discussion period and the appeals process.

When it comes to being prepared for ICD-10, it’s not lack of provider awareness that’s the problem; it’s the lack of knowledge and lack of a plan, according to a new physician survey released Aug. 2.

The non-scientific survey, which was conducted and published by The Frank Cohen Group, LLC, revealed that nearly 90% of the 241 respondents acknowledged that their Medicare payments are at risk of not being processed if their practice hasn’t implemented HIPAA 5010 by Jan. 1, 2012.

And with 2012 only months away, shockingly less than 40% have prepared a plan for testing or implementing ICD-10 to be ready by the drop-dead deadline of October 2013 and even fewer have begun some type of implementation process.

So far, the government hasn't taken any audit action against providers who have attested to meaningful use and collected their first round of electronic health record (EHR) incentive dollars. But this could be changing, starting with Medicaid incentive payments (worth $21,250 in the first round of the program), according to a new OIG report.

The AMA, along with dozens of other physician groups, are asking in a nine-page letter for CMS to make more changes to its May 26 e-prescribing (e-Rx) proposed rule.

“While we appreciate the modifications CMS presented in the proposed rule, they don’t go far enough. More changes are needed, including establishing an additional reporting period in 2012 and not applying penalties until 2013,”said former AMA president Cecil Wilson in a news release.

National spending on health care will rise faster than the country's gross domestic product (GDP) over the next 10 years, driven by key provisions in the Affordable Care Act, according to a new CMS report that projects spending statistics through 2020. The result will be "significantly" increased demand for prescription drugs and physician and clinical services, the report says. Healthcare spending is projected to grow at an average rate of 5.8% per year over the next decade, while GDP is projected to grow at just 4.7% per year. The result is that healthcare will grow from being 17.6% of GDP in 2010 to 19.8% of GDP in 2020, says Sean Keehan, an economist in the Office of the Actuary at CMS.