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Nursing Home Fairness Fought By Industry

By Eddie Farah

Binding arbitration. You might not know what means, but look in the fine print of most contracts these days. There is a line or two that agrees to let any dispute be settled by a panel, usually that favors the wrong-doer, and takes away your right to settle a dispute in court.

The latest boost to binding arbitrtion comes from the nursing home industry. It has launched a campaign designed to fight a Senate vote that protects the rights of consumers living in nursing homes and assisted living facilities.

The Fairness in Nursing Home Arbitration Act, sponsored by Sen. Mel Martinez (R-FL) and Herbert Kohl (D-WI), would make unenforcable pre-dispute binding mandatory arbitration provisions that a person signs in a nursing home contract.

Buried in the fine print of these contracts is wording that says if a dispute arises, the elderly and their families lose the right to take a deficient nursing home to court. That would even apply to cases of abuse or neglect.

Unfortunately, litigation is frequently the only way to force some nursing homes to comply with compassionate care.

What nursing facilities want, instead of a court date, is for you to take your complaint before a private and secretive forum, cherry-picked by the same industry you have the complaint against. Guess which side the deck is stacked against- You!

A Public Citizen study of 34,000 cases of credit card arbitration, found that business won more than 94 percent of time over consumers. That is not a coincidence.

Led by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, a cross section of groups, primarily nursing homes has signed a joint letter to U.S. Senators to fight the proposal.

The group says it "would establish a dangerous precedent for the entire U.S. business community by eliminating the reasonable, intelligent use of arbitration agreements."

A dangerous precedent to take a dispute to court? The right to a trial by jury is an American right, and there is nothing dangerous about it. What is truly dangerous is losing that right.

Whenever you sign any agreement, please look for the very fine print on binding arbitration. Tell the contract holder you don't agree to giving away a right that all Americans share and should hold sacred.

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Eddie Farah

Full post as published by Jacksonville Personal Injury Lawyer on September 12, 2008 (boomark / email).