526
Thomas, J., dissenting
II
A
In view of its unbelabored conclusion that § 413.85(c) imposes substantive limits on the reimbursability of approved educational costs, the Court's discussion focuses primarily on what substantive import § 413.85(c)'s anti-redistribution principle should be read to have. The Court finds the anti-redistribution principle "straightforward" in its meaning— any costs that, at some previous point in time, were carried on the books of an affiliated educational institution cannot subsequently be reimbursed by Medicare. Ante, at 513. For the reasons previously discussed, I would hold that § 413.85(c) cannot reasonably be construed to impose substantive restrictions on the reimbursability of approved educational costs. Nevertheless, if I had to give the principle substantive effect, I could not agree with the Court's sweeping construction of the principle. In my view, the Court's reading is premised on a distortion of the text of the regulation enunciating the anti-redistribution principle, and it is the text, of course, which must be given controlling effect. See Bowles, 325 U. S., at 414 (holding that an agency's interpretation of its own regulation must comport with "the plain words of the regulation").
Under the relevant portion of § 413.85(c), it is the type of educational activity engaged in that determines whether or not reimbursement is proper: "[T]he intent of the [Medicare] program is to share in the support of educational activities customarily or traditionally carried on by providers in
mitted petitioner to recover reimbursement for "those medical education costs which it has traditionally claimed and been allowed prior to 1984," App. to Pet. for Cert. 37a, that act of administrative grace appears to be subject to revision at the whim of the Secretary. Cf. Heckler v. Community Health Services of Crawford Cty., Inc., 467 U. S. 51 (1984) (Secretary not estopped from recouping overpayment to Medicare provider whose prior reimbursement claims were made in reliance on erroneous advice of its designated fiscal intermediary).
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