24
Opinion of the Court
U. S., at 215, and n. 20; Haitian Refugee Center, supra, at 494; Ringer, 466 U. S., at 617; Salfi, supra, at 762, including, where necessary, the authority to develop an evidentiary record.
Proceeding through the agency in this way provides the agency the opportunity to reconsider its policies, interpretations, and regulations in light of those challenges. Nor need it waste time, for the agency can waive many of the procedural steps set forth in § 405(g), see Salfi, supra, at 767, and a court can deem them waived in certain circumstances, see Eldridge, 424 U. S., at 330-331, even though the agency technically holds no "hearing" on the claim. See Salfi, supra, at 763-767 (holding that Secretary's decision not to challenge the sufficiency of the appellees' exhaustion was in effect a determination that the agency had rendered a "final decision" within the meaning of § 405(g)); Eldridge, supra, at 331-332, and n. 11 (invoking practical conception of finality to conclude that collateral nature of claim and potential irreparable injury from delayed review satisfy the "final decision" requirement of § 405(g)). At a minimum, however, the matter must be presented to the agency prior to review in a federal court. This the Council has not done.
Finally, the Council argues that, because it is an association, not an individual, it cannot take advantage of the special review channel, for the statute authorizes review through that channel only at the request of a "dissatisfied" "institution or agency." 42 U. S. C. § 1395cc(h)(1). The Council speaks only on behalf of its member institutions, and thus has standing only because of the injury those members allegedly suffer. See Arizonans for Official English v. Arizona, 520 U. S. 43, 65-66 (1997); Hunt v. Washington State Apple Advertising Comm'n, 432 U. S. 333, 343 (1977). It is essentially their rights to review that are at stake. And the statutes that create the special review channel adequately protect those rights.
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