§  54.605   Determining the urban rate.

   (a) If a rural health care provider requests an eligible service to be
   provided over a distance that is less than or equal to the "standard
   urban distance," as defined in paragraph (c) of this section, for the
   state in which it is located, the urban rate for that service shall be
   a rate no higher than the highest tariffed or publicly-available rate
   charged to a commercial customer for a functionally similar service in
   any city with a population of 50,000 or more in that state, calculated
   as if it were provided between two points within the city.

   (b) If a rural health care provider requests an eligible service to be
   provided over a distance that is greater than the "standard urban
   distance," as defined in paragraph (c) of this section, for the state
   in which it is located, the urban rate for that service shall be a rate
   no higher than the highest tariffed or publicly-available rate charged
   to a commercial customer for a functionally similar service provided
   over the standard urban distance in any city with a population of
   50,000 or more in that state, calculated as if the service were
   provided between two points within the city.

   (c) The "standard urban distance" for a state is the average of the
   longest diameters of all cities with a population of 50,000 or more
   within the state.

   (d) The Administrator shall calculate the "standard urban distance" and
   shall post the "standard urban distance" and the maximum supported
   distance for each state on its website.

   [ 62 FR 32948 , June 17, 1997, as amended at  63 FR 2131 , Jan. 13, 1998;
    63 FR 70572 , Dec. 21, 1998;  68 FR 74502 , Dec. 24, 2003]