CMS Releases Intermediate Policy on RHC Rurality Determinations

April 4, 2023

CMS Releases Intermediate Policy on RHC Rurality Determinations

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) officially released the interim process that will be used in determining RHC rural location determinations following the Census Bureau’s definition changes.

The interim process is as follows:

RHC applicants or relocating RHCs will meet the rural location requirement if the physical address is “non-urbanized” or in an “urban cluster” per the 2010 Census Bureau Data, OR if the physical address is not an urban area per the 2020 Census Bureau Data

Both 2010 and 2020 Census Bureau data can be found here.