Cite as: 529 U. S. 1 (2000)
Thomas, J., dissenting
agency action. Ibid. We declined, however, to enter that debate:
"Whichever may be the better reading of Salfi and Ringer, we need not pass on the meaning of § 405(h) in the abstract to resolve this case. Section 405(h) does not apply on its own terms to Part B of the Medicare program, but is instead incorporated mutatis mutandis by § 1395ii. The legislative history of both the statute establishing the Medicare program and the 1972 amendments thereto provides specific evidence of Congress' intent to foreclose review only of 'amount determinations'—i. e., those 'quite minor matters,' 118 Cong. Rec. 33992 (1972) (remarks of Sen. Bennett), remitted finally and exclusively to adjudication by private insurance carriers in a 'fair hearing.' By the same token, matters which Congress did not delegate to private carriers, such as challenges to the validity of the Secretary's instructions and regulations, are cognizable in courts of law. In the face of this persuasive evidence of legislative intent, we will not indulge the Government's assumption that Congress contemplated review by carriers of 'trivial' monetary claims, ibid., but intended no review at all of substantial statutory and constitutional challenges to the Secretary's administration of Part B of the Medicare program." Id., at 680 (footnotes omitted).
We accordingly held that the physicians' challenge to the Secretary's regulation could proceed under general federal-question jurisdiction.
C
In light of the quoted passage, it is beyond dispute that our holding in Michigan Academy rested squarely on the meaning of § 1395ii. Accord, ante, at 17. Under Michigan Academy, a case involving an "amount determinatio[n]" would trigger § 1395ii's incorporation of § 405(h), and thus bar federal-question jurisdiction; a "challeng[e] to the valid-
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