Washington, DC – The American Health Care Association and National Center for Assisted Living (AHCA/NCAL) expressed serious disappointment today that the House Judiciary Committee reported out of committee The Fairness in Nursing Home Arbitration Act (H.R. 6126), which would prohibit use of pre-dispute arbitration agreements with residents of nursing facilities or assisted living residences.
“The growing use of pre-dispute agreements throughout the healthcare sector helps bring about more timely, less adversarial settlements,” stated Bruce Yarwood, President and CEO of AHCA/NCAL. “The Fairness in Nursing Home Arbitration Act of 2008 needlessly discriminates against long term care providers and the patients and residents in our nation’s nursing facilities and assisted living residences.”
The long term care leader also stated that pre-admission arbitration clauses not only allow facility staff to better concentrate their time and effort on caring for patients and residents, but also better ensures that scarce Medicaid resources go toward improving patient care – and are not diverted to pay the escalating costs associated with lawsuits.
Nursing facility owner/operator Kelley Rice-Schild, testifying on behalf of AHCA/NCAL before a joint hearing of the Senate Aging and Judiciary Committees, stated, “We believe that the recently introduced Fairness in Nursing Home Arbitration Act of 2008 (H.R. 6126 and S. 2838) is a misguided attempt to restrict and weaken the Federal Arbitration Act (FAA). We firmly believe this legislation and other efforts to undermine the FAA are bad public policy and a step in the wrong direction.”
Yarwood also noted that Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Michael Leavitt recently sent a letter to Judiciary Committee Chairman, Representative John Conyers (D-MI), in support of arbitration agreements in nursing facilities, stating: “Pre-dispute arbitration agreements are an excellent way for patients and providers to control costs, resolve disputes, and speed resolutions of conflicts. For these reasons, we encourage potential residents and nursing homes to consider adopting such agreements to fairly resolve disputes while reducing costs for both parties.”
“Pre-dispute arbitration agreements are a viable legal option for long term care consumers and providers, and their use should not be eliminated by passage of overzealous legislative remedies,” Yarwood concluded. “We hope that the members of the House of Representatives see that fair and timely resolution to any legal concerns is in the best interest of the patients, residents, taxpayers and the nation’s entire health care sector.”
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.