Document ID: ./input/supremecourt_opinions/opinions/boundvolumes/529bv.pdf
Page Number: 108.0

529US1

Unit: $U32

[10-04-01 09:20:53] PAGES PGT: OPIN

Cite as: 529 U. S. 1 (2000)

33

Thomas, J., dissenting

force to the Medicare Act, but only by virtue of 42 U. S. C.
the Medicare Act’s incorporating reference to
§ 1395ii,
§ 405(h).1
I read Bowen v. Michigan Academy of Family
Physicians, 476 U. S. 667 (1986), to hold that this incorpo-
rating reference is triggered when a particular fact-bound
determination is in dispute, but not in the case, as here, of a
“challeng[e] to the validity of the Secretary’s instructions
and regulations.”
Id., at 680. Though this (or any) inter-
pretation of § 1395ii is not entirely free from doubt in light
of the arguable tension between Michigan Academy and our
earlier decision in Heckler v. Ringer, 466 U. S. 602 (1984),
I would resolve such doubt by following our longstanding
presumption in favor of preenforcement judicial review. Ac-
cordingly, I would hold that § 405(h) does not apply to re-
spondent’s challenge, and therefore does not preclude re-
spondent from bringing suit under general federal-question
jurisdiction, 28 U. S. C. § 1331.

I
A

Michigan Academy was the ﬁrst time we discussed the
meaning of § 1395ii.
In earlier Medicare Act cases where
the plaintiffs had sought to proceed under general federal-
question jurisdiction, we either had no need to address
§ 1395ii, or assumed in passing (and without discussion) that
§ 1395ii always incorporates § 405(h).

Our decision in United States v. Erika, Inc., 456 U. S. 201
(1982), involved the former situation. We dealt there with
a Part B dispute over the appropriate amount of reimburse-
ment for certain medical supplies.2 The statute provided

1 Section 1395ii provides in relevant part that the provisions of § 405(h)
“shall also apply with respect to [the Medicare Act] to the same extent as
they are applicable with respect to [the Social Security Act].”

2 Part B of the Medicare Act provides voluntary supplemental insurance
coverage to eligible individuals for certain physician charges and medical
Individuals’ Part B beneﬁts
services that are not covered by Part A.