Arbitration Agreements: Unfair to the Nursing Home Resident

Dan Frith

Contributor

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I confess...I hate arbitration agreements in nursing home admission contracts and I am seeing more of them every week. What does a arbitration agreement mean to a nursing home resident who is abused and neglected?

It means the resident or his/her family cannot hold the facility accountable for its negligence. It often means that any dispute over the care provided by the facility will be decided by an arbitrator hired by the facility. It means the damages which may be awarded by the arbitrator to the resident are often artificially low. It also means the proceeding is confidential and the public never learns about which nursing homes constantly provide substandard care. So, be careful of the language in those nursing home admission contracts - read them closely! And by the way, most arbitration agreements don't prohibit the facility from suing the resident or their family for unpaid bills - seems a little one-sided doesn't it!

For more information on this subject, please refer to the section on Medical Malpractice and Negligent Care.