117 STAT. 2276
PUBLIC LAW 108–173—DEC. 8, 2003 of individuals determined under paragraph (2)(B), an aggregate total of 20 percent of the total of the individuals determined under such paragraph; and ‘‘(ii) those counties and areas (in this subsection referred to as ‘specialist care scarcity counties’) with the lowest specialist care ratios that represent, if each such county or area were weighted by the number of individuals determined under paragraph (2)(B), an aggregate total of 20 percent of the total of the individuals determined under such paragraph. ‘‘(B) PERIODIC REVISIONS.—The Secretary shall periodically revise the counties or areas identified in subparagraph (A) (but not less often than once every three years) unless the Secretary determines that there is no new data available on the number of physicians practicing in the county or area or the number of individuals residing in the county or area, as identified in paragraph (2). ‘‘(C) IDENTIFICATION OF COUNTIES WHERE SERVICE IS FURNISHED.—For purposes of paying the additional amount specified in paragraph (1), if the Secretary uses the 5digit postal ZIP Code where the service is furnished, the dominant county of the postal ZIP Code (as determined by the United States Postal Service, or otherwise) shall be used to determine whether the postal ZIP Code is in a scarcity county identified in subparagraph (A) or revised in subparagraph (B). ‘‘(D) JUDICIAL REVIEW.—There shall be no administrative or judicial review under section 1869, 1878, or otherwise, respecting— ‘‘(i) the identification of a county or area; ‘‘(ii) the assignment of a specialty of any physician under this paragraph; ‘‘(iii) the assignment of a physician to a county under paragraph (2); or ‘‘(iv) the assignment of a postal ZIP Code to a county or other area under this subsection. ‘‘(5) RURAL CENSUS TRACTS.—To the extent feasible, the Secretary shall treat a rural census tract of a metropolitan statistical area (as determined under the most recent modification of the Goldsmith Modification, originally published in the Federal Register on February 27, 1992 (57 Fed. Reg. 6725)), as an equivalent area for purposes of qualifying as a primary care scarcity county or specialist care scarcity county under this subsection. ‘‘(6) PHYSICIAN DEFINED.—For purposes of this paragraph, the term ‘physician’ means a physician described in section 1861(r)(1) and the term ‘primary care physician’ means a physician who is identified in the available data as a general practitioner, family practice practitioner, general internist, or obstetrician or gynecologist. ‘‘(7) PUBLICATION OF LIST OF COUNTIES; POSTING ON WEBSITE.—With respect to a year for which a county or area is identified or revised under paragraph (4), the Secretary shall identify such counties or areas as part of the proposed and final rule to implement the physician fee schedule under section 1848 for the applicable year. The Secretary shall post the list of counties identified or revised under paragraph (4) on
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