[Code of Federal Regulations]
[Title 42, Volume 2]
[Revised as of October 1, 2006]
From the U.S. Government Printing Office via GPO Access
[CITE: 42CFR405.505]

[Page 118]
 
                         TITLE 42--PUBLIC HEALTH
 
                    CHAPTER IV--CENTERS FOR MEDICARE
                          & MEDICAID SERVICES,
                        DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND
                             HUMAN SERVICES
 
PART 405_FEDERAL HEALTH INSURANCE FOR THE AGED AND DISABLED--Table of Contents
 
          Subpart E_Criteria for Determining Reasonable Charges
 
Sec.  405.505  Determination of locality.

    ``Locality'' is the geographical area for which the carrier is to 
derive the reasonable charges or fee schedule amounts for services or 
items. Usually, a locality may be a State (including the District of 
Columbia, a territory, or a Commonwealth), a political or economic 
subdivision of a State, or a group of States. It should include a cross 
section of the population with respect to economic and other 
characteristics. Where people tend to gravitate toward certain 
population centers to obtain medical care or service, localities may be 
recognized on a basis constituting medical services areas (interstate or 
otherwise), comparable in concept to ``trade areas.'' Localities may 
differ in population density, economic level, and other major factors 
affecting charges for services. Carriers therefore shall delineate 
localities on the basis of their knowledge of local conditions. However, 
distinctions between localities are not to be so finely made that a 
locality includes only a very limited geographic area whose population 
has distinctly similar income characteristics (e.g., a very rich or very 
poor neighborhood within a city).

[57 FR 27305, June 18, 1992]