Cite as: 514 U. S. 87 (1995)
Opinion of the Court
is a reasonable regulatory interpretation, and we must defer to it. Thomas Jefferson Univ. v. Shalala, 512 U. S. 504, 512 (1994); see also Martin v. Occupational Safety and Health Review Comm'n, 499 U. S. 144, 151 (1991) ("Because applying an agency's regulation to complex or changing circumstances calls upon the agency's unique expertise and policymaking prerogatives, we presume that the power authoritatively to interpret its own regulations is a component of the agency's delegated lawmaking powers"); Lyng v. Payne, 476 U. S. 926, 939 (1986) ("agency's construction of its own regulations is entitled to substantial deference").
Respondent argues that, even if § 413.20(a) does not mandate reimbursement according to GAAP, § 413.24 does. This contention need not detain us long. Section 413.24 requires that a provider's cost data be based on the accrual basis of accounting, under which "revenue is reported in the period when it is earned, regardless of when it is collected, and expenses are reported in the period in which they are incurred, regardless of when they are paid." § 413.24(b)(2). But GAAP is not the only form of accrual accounting; in fact, both the GAAP approach and PRM § 233 reflect different methods of accrual accounting. See Accounting Principles Board (APB) Opinion No. 26, ¶¶ 5-8, reprinted at App. 64-66 (describing alternative accrual methods of recognizing advance refunding losses, including the one adopted in PRM § 233). Section 413.24 does not, simply by its accrual accounting requirement, bind the Secretary to make reimbursements according to GAAP.
B
The Secretary's reading of her regulations is consistent with the Medicare statute. Rather than requiring adherence to GAAP, the statute merely instructs the Secretary, in establishing the methods for determining reimbursable costs, to "consider, among other things, the principles generally applied by national organizations or established prepay-
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