Medicare Part A pays for inpatient hospital services furnished by a foreign hospital if the following conditions are met:

(a) The beneficiary is a resident of the United States.

(b) The foreign hospital is closer or more accessible to the beneficiary's residence than the nearest United States hospital equipped to deal with, and available to treat, the individual's illness or injury.

(c) The foreign hospital is—

(1) A hospital as defined in §424.101 and, it is licensed, or approved as meeting the conditions for licensing, by the appropriate agency of the country in which it is located; and

(2) Accredited by the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations (JCAHO) or accredited or approved by a program of the country where it is located under standards the CMS finds to be essentially equivalent to those of the JCAHO.

(d) The services are covered services that Medicare would pay for if they were furnished by a participating hospital.

[53 FR 6634, Mar. 2, 1988, as amended at 71 FR 48143, Aug. 18, 2006]