Cite as: 512 U. S. 504 (1994)
Opinion of the Court
This argument is mistaken, for it ignores the second clause of the critical sentence, which refers, on its face, to the "redistribution of costs," not the "redistribution of activities." The term "costs," moreover, is used without condition. Nothing in the plain language suggests that the prohibition on "redistribution of costs" is limited to the costs of certain activities (such as classroom instruction) carried on by an educational unit. The clear inference from the language is that the shift of any reimbursable costs from an "educational institutio[n] or uni[t]" to a "patient care institutio[n] or uni[t]" is prohibited. The Secretary's interpretation of the anti-redistribution principle is thus far more consistent with the regulation's unqualified language than the interpretation advanced by petitioner. But even if this were not so, the Secretary's construction is, at the very least, a reasonable one, and we are required to afford it "controlling weight." Bowles v. Seminole Rock & Sand Co., 325 U. S., at 414.
Second, petitioner argues that the Secretary has been inconsistent in her interpretation of the anti-redistribution provision. While it is true that an agency's interpretation of a statute or regulation that conflicts with a prior interpretation is " 'entitled to considerably less deference' than a consistently held agency view," INS v. Cardoza-Fonseca, 480 U. S. 421, 446, n. 30 (1987) (quoting Watt v. Alaska, 451 U. S. 259, 273 (1981)), that maxim does not apply here because petitioner fails to present persuasive evidence that the Secretary has interpreted the anti-redistribution provision in an inconsistent manner.3
In an attempt to find an inconsistency, petitioner points to a 1978 internal operating memorandum issued by the Health Care Financing Administration (HCFA) that addressed the
3 The dissent seeks to demonstrate that the Secretary has been inconsistent in her application of the community support principle. See post, at 520-522. We see no need to dispute that proposition; as indicated above, we express no view on the validity of the Secretary's interpretation of the community support clause.
515
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