Washington, DC – Joining in the recent opposition to the Fairness in Nursing Home Arbitration Act, more than sixty-five long term care advocacy organizations have sent a letter to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) and Minority Leader John Boehner (R-OH) warning that the House bill “would establish a dangerous precedent for the entire U.S. business community by eliminating the reasonable, intelligent use of arbitration agreements.”
The long term care letter, co-signed by more than sixty state organizations, outlines why the broad-based group opposes the Fairness in Nursing Home Arbitration Act, stating:
- H.R. 6126 would effectively eliminate the use of pre-dispute arbitration agreements by nursing facilities, assisted living communities and all housing service providers nationwide – even if the patient, resident or their family wishes to enter into such an agreement. The inherent right of every consumer to voluntarily arbitrate disputes should not be restricted.
- We also believe that H.R. 6126 would weaken the Federal Arbitration Act (FAA), which has been in place for more than 80 years. The FAA appropriately recognizes the strong national interest in disputes being resolved in a forum other than the courts when both parties choose to do so.
- Some have asserted that arbitration agreements unfairly require that patients and residents sacrifice legal rights simply to obtain care and services. In fact, courts consistently have invalidated arbitration agreements that were coercive, lacked adequate consumer protections such as disclosure and rescission provisions, and were unfair to consumers.
- Arbitration also has several advantages over traditional litigation:
- It is less adversarial and time consuming than traditional litigation;
- Consumers typically resolve claims more quickly than through the courts, allowing more timely compensation to plaintiffs;
- In the health care environment, medical evidence can be taken into consideration when resolving disputes;
- Resources that would otherwise be devoted to expensive litigation can be appropriately directed toward patient and resident care; and
- In a substantial majority of arbitration cases, claimants receive compensation.
On the basis of protecting sound public policy that benefits consumers and our nation’s health care system in many important ways, we ask you to oppose the Fairness in Nursing Home Arbitration Act (H.R. 6126), and thank you for considering the interests of the vast majority of Americans over the interests of a very few.
Joining AHCA, the Alliance and NCAL in its letter to Pelosi and Boehner are:
The Alabama Nursing Home Association, Alaska State Hospital & Nursing Home Association, Arizona Health Care Association, Arkansas Assisted Living Association, Arkansas Health Care Association, California Association of Health Facilities, Colorado Center for Assisted Living Colorado Health Care Association, Connecticut Association of Health Care Facilities, Delaware Health Care Facilities Association, District of Columbia Health Care Association, Florida Center for Assisted Living, Florida Health Care Association, Georgia Health Care Association, Healthcare Association of Hawaii, Idaho Center for Assisted Living, Idaho Health Care Association, Indiana Health Care Association, Iowa Center for Assisted Living, Iowa Health Care Association, Kansas Center for Assisted Living, Kansas Health Care Association, Kentucky Association of Health Care Facilities, Louisiana Nursing Home Association, Maine Health Care Association, Health Facilities Association of Maryland, Maryland Center for Assisted Living, Massachusetts Extended Care Federation, Health Care Association of Michigan, Care Providers of Minnesota, Mississippi Health Care Association, Missouri Health Care Association, Nebraska Health Care Association, Nevada Health Care Association, New Hampshire Health Care Association, Health Care Association of New Jersey, New Mexico Health Care Association, New York State Health Facilities Association, North Carolina Health Care Facilities Association, North Dakota Long Term Care Association, Ohio Centers for Assisted Living, Ohio Health Care Association, Oklahoma Association of Health Care Providers, Oregon Center for Assisted Living, Oregon Health Care Association, Pennsylvania Center for Assisted Living Management, Pennsylvania Health Care Association, Rhode Island Health Care Association, South Carolina Health Care Association, South Dakota Assisted Living Association, South Dakota Health Care Association, Tennessee Health Care Association, Texas Health Care Association, Utah Health Care Association, Vermont Health Care Association, Virginia Center for Assisted Living, Virginia Health Care Association, Washington Health Care Association, West Virginia Health Care Association, Wisconsin Health Care Association and the Wyoming Health Care Association.
This letter falls on the heels of a statement to the U.S. Senate supporting the use of arbitration in long term care from a diverse group of organizations including the National Taxpayers Union (NTU), the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the U.S. Chamber Institute for Legal Reform (ILR), the American Health Care Association (AHCA), the Alliance for Quality Nursing Home Care and the National Center for Assisted Living (NCAL).
The American Health Care Association and National Center for Assisted Living (NCAL) represent nearly 11,000 non-profit and proprietary facilities dedicated to continuous improvement in the delivery of professional and compassionate care provided daily by millions of caring employees to 1.5 million of our nation's frail, elderly and disabled citizens who live in nursing facilities, assisted living residences, subacute centers and homes for persons with mental retardation and developmental disabilities. For more information, please visit www.ahca.org or www.ncal.org.