"Fairness in Nursing Home Arbitration Act" Hurts Broad Cross Section of
U.S. Consumers, Limits Consumer Choice
WASHINGTON, Sept. 10 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Warning the Fairness in
Nursing Home Arbitration Act (S.2838) hurts U.S. seniors in addition to
establishing "a dangerous precedent for the entire U.S. business community
by eliminating the reasonable, intelligent use of arbitration agreements,"
a diverse coalition of senior, caregiver, taxpayer and business advocacy
organizations have coalesced to sign a joint letter to U.S. Senators
stipulating the need to uphold the right of every consumer to voluntarily
arbitrate legal disputes.
The text of the letter is as follows:
Dear Senators Leahy and Specter,
As our collective intent is to protect consumer choice, preserve
quality health care, and promote the most efficient, effective use of
Americans' tax dollars, we, the undersigned organizations, urge you to
oppose The Fairness in Nursing Home Arbitration Act (S. 2838) and other
bills that would eliminate or significantly limit the use of arbitration as
a viable and voluntary option for resolving legal disputes.
We believe S. 2838 which is being taken up by the Senate Judiciary
Committee, would establish a dangerous precedent for the entire U.S.
business community by eliminating the reasonable, intelligent use of
arbitration agreements.
Specifically, S. 2838 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 S. 2838 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 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.
For these and other reasons, we believe arbitration has been shown to
result in the just and timely resolution of legal disputes, plays a
critical role in protecting the nation's health care system, and is in the
best interest of patients, residents, families, and taxpayers. We also
believe strongly that within the health sector, providers should continue
to be prohibited from requiring patients and residents to agree to
arbitration as a condition of admission.
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 (S. 2838), and thank
you for considering the interests of the vast majority of Americans over
the interests of a very few.
Sincerely,
Alliance for Quality Nursing Home Care
American Assisted Living Nurses Association
American Association for Long Term Care Nursing
American Association of Nurse Assessment Coordinators
American Association of Nurse Executives
American College of Health Care Administrators
American Health Care Association
The American Insurance Association
American Seniors Housing Association
Assisted Living Federation of America
Evangelical Lutheran Good Samaritan Society
National Association of Health Care Assistants
National Association for the Support of Long Term Care
National Center for Assisted Living
National Taxpayers Union
The U.S. Chamber of Commerce
The U.S. Chamber Institute for Legal Reform
Lisa Rickard, president of the U.S. Chamber Institute for Legal Reform
(ILR), said, "As part of their lobbying efforts to expand lawsuits, the
special interest plaintiffs' lawyer lobby has launched a full-out assault
to eliminate arbitration as a quick, fair, and efficient option for
millions of American consumers. The Fairness in Nursing Home Arbitration
Act is just the latest in a string of trial lawyer earmarks designed to
erase the 80-year-old arbitration system in favor of more lawsuits - and
more fees for trial lawyers - at the expense of the average consumer."
"This new legislation ostensibly helping seniors has drawn an unusually
diverse, broad cross section of opposition because it not only undermines
seniors' care needs, it restricts consumers' ability to exercise free
choice," stated Bruce Yarwood, President and CEO of AHCA.
Pete Sepp, the National Taxpayer Union's (NTU) Vice-President for
Policy and Communications, summed the bill up this way: "This legislation
is a dream for trial lawyers and a debacle for consumers. Our civil justice
system costs taxpayers billions to administer, and costs the economy much
more in deadweight losses. Congress should be encouraging, rather than
restricting, options to help lower those costs, and arbitration should be
high on the list."
Alan Rosenbloom, President of the Alliance for Quality Nursing Home
Care, warned, "This bill establishes bad precedent on many levels, and is
premised upon the flawed presumption that disputes between parties can only
be resolved in a court of law."
Executive Director of the National Center for Assisted Living, David
Kyllo, said, "The genuine protection of residents and their rights involves
allowing them to exercise freedom of choice and the ability to pursue all
options in resolving legal disputes - not limiting choice."
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SOURCE American Health Care Association
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CONTACT:
Susan Feeney of AHCA, +1-202-898-6333; or
Debra DeShong Reed of Alliance for Quality Nursing Home Care,
+1-202-528-4214
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