Are you worried about the chaos likely to ensue in three short weeks, when consult codes go the way of the dinosaur? So is the honorable Sen. Arlen Specter (D-Pa.), who this morning launched a heroic, last-minute campaign to delay the elimination of consults by one year.
Specter sponsored an amendment to the health reform bill that will "delay implementation of any final rule that discontinues payment for consultation codes," pushing the date back a full year to Jan. 1, 2011. The amendment also requires HHS to consult with the AMA's CPT editorial panel to develop an alternative plan, one that would either modify existing consult codes or create new ones to "more accurately reflect the value ... [of] such consultation services" and reduce coding errors.
You can read the full text of this really short (two-page) amendment here. A thorough Part B News search of the online Congressional legislative archive shows no sign of this amendment, probably because it's still being entered into the official online record. The document above is actually hosted by the Community Oncology Alliance, a specialty group that lobbied ferociously to reverse the consult change.
Does this actually mean anything? Well, if the amendment survives the gauntlet of legislative sausage-making that awaits, it'll supersede CMS's authority and consults will indeed be delayed. It's worth keeping an eye on this little amendment.