Cite as: 534 U. S. 473 (2002)
Stevens, J., dissenting
respective spouse." By mandating an income transfer from the institutionalized spouse to the community spouse, the Wisconsin statute effectively treats the institutionalized spouse's income as that of the community spouse, and, therefore, violates the prohibition of § 1396r-5(b)(2)(A)(i).
As a final matter, the Court pays "respectful consideration" to an opinion letter and policy memoranda in which the Secretary of Health and Human Services " 'in the spirit of Federalism' " has allowed the States to use either an income-first or a resources-first approach. Ante, at 497. The weight that should be accorded to such a document depends " 'upon the thoroughness evident in its consideration, the validity of its reasoning, its consistency with earlier and later pronouncements, and all those factors which give it power to persuade.' " United States v. Mead Corp., 533 U. S. 218, 228 (2001). The Secretary has taken inconsistent positions on this issue over time, see App. to Pet. for Cert. 78a-90a, and the current opinion letter offers no analysis of the potentially conflicting provisions in the federal and state statutes. It is devoid of any " 'power to persuade.' "
The Court concludes its opinion with an explanation of why the income-first rule may represent a better policy choice than the resources-first rule. It is not, however, a policy choice that Congress made. Indeed, the fact that the text of the federal statute expressly authorizes the resources-first approach without mentioning the income-first rule commanded by the Wisconsin statute, at the very least, identifies a congressional preference for the former.
This statute is not ambiguous. The resource adjustment authorized by § 1396r-5(e)(2)(C) is not conditioned on any prior or predicted transfer of income. The state statute imposing that condition is therefore invalid. Because I agree with the analysis of the statute in the opinion of the Wisconsin Court of Appeals, I would affirm its judgment. I therefore respectfully dissent.
505
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