Colorado Supreme Court: Proxies Cannot Sign Nursing Home Arbitration Agreements

BSadmin — Wed, 09 Dec 2009 20:44:09 +0000

Some courts have declined to enforce nursing home arbitration agreements signed by a proxy on behalf of a nursing home resident. Colorado’s high court recently ruled that a healthcare proxy does not have the authority to sign an arbitration agreement on behalf of a nursing home resident. In the case of Lujan v. Life Care Centers of America, Colorado, Alvin Lujan signed an arbitration agreement, waiving jury trial rights, when admitting his mother, Estella Lujan, to the Life Care Centers of America nursing home. She died three days later, and a wrongful death claim was filed against the facility. Life Care Centers argued that admission to a nursing home is a medical decision and, therefore, the Colorado law applies. But the Colorado Supreme Court determined that the signing of an arbitration agreement does not fall under the specific definition of the authorities given to a healthcare proxy. As a result, the Lujan family had the right to sue the facility. In October, the Nebraska Supreme Court arrived at a similar decision regarding the roll of patient surrogates. In Maine wrongful death cases, there is also a good argment that the death beneficiaries should not be bound by any arbitration clause to which they were not direct parties. Accordingly, in addition to the basic unconscionability of these agreements, there are a number of strong contract-law challenges to their enforcement.

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Colorado Supreme Court: Proxies Cannot Sign Nursing Home Arbitration Agreements