Cite as: 534 U. S. 473 (2002)
Opinion of the Court
state hearing officers to use that method. See HCFA, Chicago Regional State Letter No. 51-93 (Dec. 1993), App. to Pet. for Cert. 78a-83a. More recently, the Secretary has concluded that the Act permits both income-first and "some other reasonable interpretation of the law." HCFA, Chicago Regional State Letter No. 22-94, p. 2 (July 1994), App. to Pet. for Cert. 89a.
The Secretary has circulated for comment a proposed rule "allow[ing] States the threshold choice of using either the income-first or resources-first method when determining whether the community spouse has sufficient income to meet minimum monthly maintenance needs." 66 Fed. Reg. 46763, 46765 (2001). The proposed rule details the Secretary's reasons for concluding that the Act does not "clearly requir[e] the use of either [method] to the exclusion of the other." Id., at 46767. Accordingly, "in view of the cooperative federalism considerations embodied in the Medicaid program," id., at 46765, the Secretary found it appropriate to "leave to States the decision as to which alternative to use," id., at 46767.6
B
The facts of this case illustrate the operation of the Act and the different consequences of the income-first and resources-first approaches. Irene Blumer was admitted to a Wisconsin nursing home in 1994 and applied for Medicaid assistance in 1996 through her husband Burnett. In accord with § 1396r-5(c), the Green County Department of Human Services (County) determined that as of Irene's institutionalization in 1994, the couple's resources amounted to $145,644. Dividing this amount evenly between the Blumers, the
6 Comments on the proposed rule were to be submitted by November 6, 2001. As the Government related at oral argument, however, the Secretary fears that comments have not reached the agency due to the disruption of the Nation's postal system in October and November 2001. See Tr. of Oral Arg. 16-17. It remains unclear when the Secretary will take further action on the proposed rule. See 66 Fed. Reg. 61625 (2001).
485
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