The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) announced a Proposed Rule scheduled to be published in the Federal Register on June 8, 2017, revising its prior restrictions on binding arbitration provisions between long term care facilities and their residents set forth in a Final Rule published in October 2017.  Comments are due sixty days after publication of the Proposed Rule. In the Final Rule published last year, CMS had prohibited pre-dispute binding arbitration agreements and imposed requirements on facilities that asked residents to sign arbitration agreements.  The U.S. District Court for the District of Missouri had issued a preliminary injunction  against CMS prior to the Final Rule taking effect.  After the court ruling, CMS issued a memorandum to states and Medicare contractors notifying them that the Final Rule would not be enforced until the injunction was lifted.

The Proposed Rule also comes on the heels of a closely-watched case we reported on earlier relating to nursing home arbitration agreements, Kindred Nursing Centers Ltd v. Clark, et al. In that case, the U.S. Supreme Court held that the Federal Arbitration Act preempted a rule applied by a state court that had refused to enforce binding arbitration agreements between a nursing home and individuals who held general powers of attorney on behalf of residents.Continue Reading CMS Reverses Direction in Proposed Rule on Long Term Care Facility Arbitration Agreements