Question: Pennsylvania Subscriber Answer: The proposed rule suggests redistributing the savings that would result from invalidating consultation codes into payments for E/M services, such as office visits (99201- 99215, Office or other outpatient visit ...) and initial hospital care (99221-99223). CMS would still leave the values for 99241-99245 in the Medicare Physician Fee Schedule so that private payers can see the codes' relative value units agreed upon by the RBRVS Update Committee (RUC) and CMS. Impact: Stay tuned to Pediatric Coding Alert to find out how the proposed rule pans out. The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) anticipates that if enacted the consult pay elimination could benefit general pediatricians who might see a payment increase from increased frequently used office visit codes. Pediatric specialists, however, who tend to bill more consultations, could see declines in revenue. For more on the consultation code proposal, see page 33 of the July 13th Federal Register (http://edocket.access.gpo.gov/2009/pdf/E9-15835.pdf). To read the press release, visit www.cms.hhs.gov/apps/media/press/release.asp?Counter=3469.