51 soc.sec.rep.ser. 131, Medicare & Medicaid Guide P 44,456, 96 Cal. Daily Op. Serv. 4639, 96 Daily Journal D.A.R. 7469 Harold L. Stephenson Marie Lohse Joseph Ventimiglia and Dorothy Petrowicz v. Donna E. Shalala, Secretary, Department of Health and Human Services

87 F.3d 350 51 Soc.Sec.Rep.Ser. 131, Medicare & Medicaid Guide P 44,456, 96 Cal. Daily Op. Serv. 4639 , 96 Daily Journal D.A.R. 7469 Harold L. STEPHENSON; Marie Lohse; Joseph Ventimiglia; and Dorothy Petrowicz, Plaintiffs-Appellants, v. Donna E. SHALALA, Secretary, Department of Health and Human Services, Defendant-Appellee. No. 95-15729. United States Court of Appeals, Ninth Circuit. Argued and Submitted March 12, 1996. Decided June 25, 1996. Carol S. Jimenez, Center for Health Care Rights, Los Angeles, California, for plaintiffs-appellants. Lois B. Osler, United States Department of Justice, Washington, D.C., for defendant-appellee. Appeal from the United States District Court for the Eastern District of California, Edward J. Garcia, District Judge, Presiding. D.C. No. CV-93-00963-EJG. Before HALL and BRUNETTI, Circuit Judges, and WEINER, * District Judge. CYNTHIA HOLCOMB HALL, Circuit Judge: 1 We must decide whether the Medicare Act, in sections found at 42 U.S.C. §§ 1395cc(a)(2)(A), 1395u(b)(3), 1395x(v)(1)(K), compels the Secretary of Health and Human Services to impose a cap on hospital outpatient charges. We conclude that it does not, and affirm the order of…