Document ID: ./input/supremecourt_opinions/opinions/boundvolumes/529bv.pdf
Page Number: 754.0

529US3

Unit: $U55

[09-26-01 13:01:09] PAGES PGT: OPIN

Cite as: 529 U. S. 667 (2000)

679

Opinion of the Court

tion. We need not go so far. Even assuming the examples
of subsection (c) bear upon the deﬁnition of beneﬁts, statu-
tory examples of nonapplicability do not necessarily give rise
to the inference that absent the enumeration the statute
would otherwise apply. To deﬁne all subsection (c) pay-
ments as exempted beneﬁts would go well beyond the ordi-
nary meaning of the word. On the other hand, the statute
is not written to say: “The term ‘beneﬁts’ does not include
bona ﬁde salary, wages, fees, or other compensation paid, or
expenses paid or reimbursed, in the usual course of busi-
ness.” We must construe the term “beneﬁts,” then, in a
manner consistent with Congress’ intent not to reach the
enumerated class of transactions. See S. Rep. No. 98–225,
p. 370 (1984) (“[N]ot every Federal contract or disbursement
of funds would be covered [under § 666]. For example, if a
government agency lawfully purchases more than $10,000 in
equipment from a supplier, it is not the intent of this section
to make a theft of $5,000 or more from the supplier a Fed-
eral crime”).

We do not accept the view that the Medicare payments
here in question are for the limited purposes of compensating
providers or reimbursing them for ordinary course expendi-
tures. The payments are made for signiﬁcant and substan-
tial reasons in addition to compensation or reimbursement,
so that neither these terms nor the usual course of business
conditions set forth in subsection (c) are met here. The pay-
ments in question have attributes and purposes well beyond
those described in subsection (c). These attributes and pur-
poses are consistent with the deﬁnition of “beneﬁt.” While
the payments might have similarities to payments an insurer
would remit to a hospital quite without regard to the Medi-
care program, the Government does not make the payment
unless the hospital complies with its intricate regulatory
scheme. The payments are made not simply to reimburse
for treatment of qualifying patients but to assist the hospital
in making available and maintaining a certain level and qual-