2006 proposed fee schedule - American Society of Clinical Oncology

administer, including those for SNFs, long-term care
144
hospitals (LTCHs), inpatient psychiatric facilities (IPFs),
home health agencies (HHAs), and inpatient rehabilitation
facilities (IRFs).
b. Revision of Geographic Classifications
On June 6, 2003, OMB issued Bulletin 03-04 that
announced new geographic area designations based on the 2000
Census. The bulletin established revised definitions for
the nation’s MSAs, designated county based Metropolitan
Divisions within the MSAs that have a single core with a
population of at least 2.5 million, created two new sets of
statistical areas (Micropolitan Statistical Areas and
Combined Statistical Areas), and defined New England City
and Town Areas. The bulletin may be accessed on the
internet at: http://www.whitehouse.gov/omb/bulletins/bo3-
04.html.
Section 623 of the MMA gave the Secretary the authority
to revise the geographic areas used to develop the wage
indexes currently reflected in the composite payment rates,
removing the OBRA 1990 restriction. Although we published
revised composite payment rates in the November 15, 2004
final rule implementing MMA mandated revisions to those
rates, we did not propose revising the wage indexes, or the
geographic areas on which they are based at that time. For
reasons discussed below, we are proposing to use OMB’s list