[Code of Federal Regulations]
[Title 12, Volume 1]
[Revised as of January 1, 2003]
From the U.S. Government Printing Office via GPO Access
[CITE: 42CFR485.610]

[Page 598]
 
                         TITLE 42--PUBLIC HEALTH
 
  CHAPTER IV--CENTERS FOR MEDICARE & MEDICAID SERVICES, DEPARTMENT OF 
                 HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES--(Continued)
 
PART 485--CONDITIONS OF PARTICIPATION: SPECIALIZED PROVIDERS--Table of Contents
 
Subpart F--Conditions of Participation: Critical Access Hospitals (CAHs)
 
Sec. 485.610  Condition of participation: Status and location.

    (a) Standard: Status. The facility is--
    (1) A currently participating hospital that meets all conditions of 
participation set forth in this subpart;
    (2) A recently closed facility, provided that the facility--
    (i) Was a hospital that ceased operations on or after the date that 
is 10 years before November 29, 1999; and
    (ii) Meets the criteria for designation under this subpart as of the 
effective date of its designation; or
    (3) A health clinic or a health center (as defined by the State) 
that--
    (i) Is licensed by the State as a health clinic or a health center;
    (ii) Was a hospital that was downsized to a health clinic or a 
health center; and
    (iii) As of the effective date of its designation, meets the 
criteria for designation set forth in this subpart.
    (b) Standard: Location in a rural area or treatment as rural. The 
CAH meets the requirements of either paragraph (b)(1) or (b)(2) of this 
section.
    (1) The CAH meets the following requirements:
    (i) The CAH is located outside any area that is a Metropolitan 
Statistical Area, as defined by the Office of Management and Budget, or 
that has been recognized as urban under Sec. 412.62(f) of this chapter;
    (ii) The CAH is not deemed to be located in an urban area under Sec. 
412.63(b) of this chapter; and
    (iii) The CAH has not been classified as an urban hospital for 
purposes of the standardized payment amount by CMS or the Medicare 
Geographic Classification Review Board under Sec. 412.230(e) of this 
chapter, and is not among a group of hospitals that have been 
redesignated to an adjacent urban area under Sec. 412.232 of this 
chapter.
    (2) The CAH is located within a Metropolitan Statistical Area, as 
defined by the Office of Management and Budget, but is being treated as 
being located in a rural area in accordance with Sec. 412.103 of this 
chapter.
    (c) Standard: Location relative to other facilities or necessary 
provider certification. The CAH is located more than a 35-mile drive 
(or, in the case of mountainous terrain or in areas with only secondary 
roads available, a 15-mile drive) from a hospital or another CAH, or the 
CAH is certified by the State as being a necessary provider of health 
care services to residents in the area.

[62 FR 46036, Aug. 29, 1997, as amended at 65 FR 47052, Aug. 1, 2000; 66 
FR 39938, Aug. 1, 2001]