42 CFR § 441.251 - Definitions.

---
identifier: "/us/cfr/t42/s441.251"
source: "ecfr"
legal_status: "authoritative_unofficial"
title: "42 CFR § 441.251 - Definitions."
title_number: 42
title_name: "Public Health"
section_number: "441.251"
section_name: "Definitions."
chapter_name: "CENTERS FOR MEDICARE & MEDICAID SERVICES, DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES"
subchapter_number: "C"
subchapter_name: "MEDICAL ASSISTANCE PROGRAMS"
part_number: "441"
part_name: "SERVICES: REQUIREMENTS AND LIMITS APPLICABLE TO SPECIFIC SERVICES"
positive_law: false
currency: "2026-04-05"
last_updated: "2026-04-05"
format_version: "1.1.0"
generator: "[email protected]"
authority: "42 U.S.C. 1302."
regulatory_source: "43 FR 45229, Sept. 29, 1978, unless otherwise noted."
cfr_part: "441"
---


# 441.251 Definitions.

As used in this subpart:

*Hysterectomy* means a medical procedure or operation for the purpose of removing the uterus.

*Institutionalized individual* means an individual who is (a) involuntarily confined or detained, under a civil or criminal statute, in a correctional or rehabilitative facility, including a mental hospital or other facility for the care and treatment of mental illness; or (b) confined, under a voluntary commitment, in a mental hospital or other facility for the care and treatment of mental illness.

*Mentally incompetent individual* means an individual who has been declared mentally incompetent by a Federal, State, or local court of competent jurisdiction for any purpose, unless the individual has been declared competent for purposes which include the ability to consent to sterilization.

*Sterilization* means any medical procedure, treatment, or operation for the purpose of rendering an individual permanently incapable of reproducing.