Generally, payment is made for emergency inpatient hospital services in qualified Canadian or Mexican hospitals in the following circumstances:
• A Medicare beneficiary is in the United States when an emergency occurs, and a Canadian or Mexican hospital is closer to, or more accessible from, the site of the emergency than the nearest adequately equipped United States hospital that can provide emergency services, or
• The emergency occurred in Canada while the beneficiary is traveling between Alaska and another State without unreasonable delay and by the most direct route, and a Canadian hospital is closer to, or more accessible from, the site of the emergency than the nearest United States hospital. For this purpose, an emergency occurring within the Canadian inland waterway between the States of Washington and Alaska is considered to have occurred in Canada.
The term “United States” means the 50 States, the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, Guam, Northern Mariana Islands, American Samoa and, for purposes of services furnished on a ship, the territorial waters adjoining the land areas of the U.S.
A hospital that is not physically situated in one of the above jurisdictions is considered to be outside the United States, even if it is owned or operated by the United States Government.
