"U.S. to Bar Arbitration Clauses in Nursing Home Contracts
The federal agency that controls billions of dollars in Medicare and Medicaid funding has moved to prevent nursing homes from forcing claims of elder abuse, sexual harassment and even wrongful death into the private system of justice known as arbitration.
The agency, the Department of Health and Human Services, on Wednesday issued a rule that bars any nursing home or assisted-living facility that receives federal funding from inserting an arbitration clause into its contracts.
The rule, which would affect 1.5 million nursing home residents, promises to deliver major new protections.
Clauses embedded in the fine print of nursing home admissions contracts have pushed disputes about safety and the quality of care out of public view and into arbitration. The system has helped the nursing home industry reduce its legal costs, but it has stymied the families of nursing home residents from getting justice, even in the case of murder.
A case involving a 100-year-old woman who was found murdered in a nursing home, strangled by her roommate, was initially blocked from court. So was a case brought by the family of a 94-year-old woman who died at a nursing home in Murrysville, Pa., from a head wound that had been left to fester. The cases were the subject of a front-page article in The New York Times last November.
“The sad reality is that today too many Americans must choose between forfeiting their legal rights and getting adequate medical care,” Senator Patrick Leahy, a Vermont Democrat, said in a statement on Wednesday.
The new rule comes after officials in 16 states and the District of Columbia urged the government to cut off funding to nursing homes that use the clauses, arguing that arbitration kept patterns of wrongdoing hidden from prospective residents and their families.
With its decision, the federal agency has restored a fundamental right of millions of patients across the country: their day in court."
Very interesting. My best friend is in a very good care facility except for one problem. It does not have an automatic fire sprinkler system (it's an old building). It is the only care home in the city that doesn't have one. I came across this fact when researching something else. I'm sure my friend doesn't know. She's the kind of person that if she were in charge, she would have a sprinkler system installed even if meant tearing down the building. I doubt the family knows. If I told them now, they would live with it because my friend is otherwise well-cared for. I don't want to mention it to my friend. I'm already keeping my mouth buttoned about one of them living in her apartment against my friend's wishes. At least there is no smoking allowed in facility. This facility is not government funded, but you'd think that city bylaws would insist on automatic sprinkler systems. Maybe they waive them for older buildings but insist on having them in any under construction.
The laws probably allow older buildings without sprinkler systems to be grandfathered in. I suspect in the case of major renovations sprinkler systems would be required to be installed.