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8 DePaul J. Health Care L. 263 (2004-2005)
Mandatory Arbitration Agreements Do Not Belong in Nursing Home Contracts with Residents

handle is hein.journals/dephcl8 and id is 271 raw text is: MANDATORY ARBITRATION AGREEMENTS DO NOT BELONG IN NURSING HOME CONTRACTS WITH RESIDENTS Ann E. Krasuski* I. INTRODUCTION The Supreme Court endorses them. Businesses, lending institutions, and health care providers often rely on them. Employers impose them 2 on their employees.' State legislatures curb their use. Arbitration providers themselves refuse to enforce them in certain disputes,3 and consumer advocates typically oppose them.4 Originally intended for arm's length transactions between parties in relatively equal bargaining positions,5 arbitration agreements are appearing with greater frequency in contracts of all varieties.' They have become a staple in consumer contracts, and have even been spotted on a box of Cheerios. Recently, seeing an opportunity to avoid costly and reputation-breaking litigation, nursing homes have begun to incorporate them in admission agreements with residents. These arbitration agreements may be good for nursing homes, but they are expensive proceedings in a forum generally unfavorable to consumers. Many residents and their families do not read carefully - if at all- the admission materials they are given and asked to sign upon *Executive Text Editor, DePaul Journal of Health Care Law. B.A., University of Indiana at Bloomington; M.A., University of Texas at Austin; J.D., DePaul University College of Law. ' Jean R. Sternlight, Panacea or Corporate Tool?: Debunking the Supreme Court's Preference For Binding Arbitration, 74 WASH. U. L. Q. 637 (1996). 2 See, e.g., ARK CODE ANN. § 16-108-201 (2001) (exempting personal injury and tort matters from enforcement of arbitration agreements); KAN. STAT. ANN. 5- 401(c)(3) (1991) (exempting tort claims); MONT. CODE ANN. 27-5-114(2)(a) (1995) (exempting personal injury claims). 3 See Kersten Norlin, AAA Announces Change in Health Care Policy, AM. ARB. AsS'N (2002), athttp://www.adr.org. 4 See PUBLIC CITIZEN, THE COSTS OF ARBITRATION (2002), at http://www.citizen.org/documents/ACF 11OA.PDF. ' Sternlight, supra note 1, at 641. 6 See Jane Spencer, Signing A way Your Right to Sue, WALL ST. J., Oct. 1, 2003, at D1. ' Ellie Winninghoff, A fair fight? Arbitration may not always be in your best interest, CIIi. TRw., Nov. 24, 1994, at C1. 8 See discussion infra Part IV.A.

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