09 November 2008
Arbitration? What's That?
11/15/08 11:28 Filed in: Medical
Malpractice
Practically
every hospital, doctor, clinic and healthcare
provider in Utah asks patients to sign an
‘Arbitration Agreement.’ Often, these boilerplate
forms get buried in with other red-tape paperwork. Do
not ignore them and, more importantly, do not sign an
arbitration agreement.
Sign Now, and Pay Later.
Your biggest fear during healthcare is not litigation, but “Am I going to be o.k.?” Naturally, we all believe we will survive and that our doctor will do a good job. The majority of the time, this is true and our healthcare providers do amazing work.
But, what if the doctor makes a mistake? They are, after all, human. Should you be giving up a right to court access for harm and injury because of medical malpractice? Should you give up that right even before the harm ever occurs? Arbitration is expensive, very expensive. Your tax dollars already provide a free and open court system. Arbitration requires that you pay the costs of not one, but two judges. These judges charge upwards of $300 per hour. Of course, if you suffer medical malpractice, you might be injured so badly that you lose your job. If you cannot pay for an arbitrator ($300/hr!) you cannot seek compensation from the healthcare provider who made an error. Can you see why the healthcare providers want you to sign these up front? It practically guarantees you lose your right to seek compensation by making it too expensive.
Of course, you can always choose arbitration at a later date if you feel it is the best way to resolve a claim for malpractice.
Your Right, Your Say.
You get to say whether or not you will agree to arbitration for medical malpractice, instead of bringing a lawsuit in our open courts. The purpose of providing an open court for people hurt by medical mistakes is to eliminate the possibility that injured people and/or their families would seek ‘rough justice’ against the healthcare provider on their own. Our tort system also guarantees that the offending healthcare provider gets known in a public forum and serves as a warning to other patients. These rights to go to a public court are yours and you get to say what happens to them. You do not need to sign an arbitration agreement under Utah law before receiving healthcare! If presented with an arbitration agreement, politely agree to take it with you and that you will read it and consider it. If you have already signed an arbitration agreement, you only have 10 days in which to revoke that agreement. Do so immediately by sending a written letter to your healthcare provider and keep a copy for yourself. Don’t let the healthcare industry take away your right to a free, public and open court system and replace it with a private, pay-to-play method which might cost so much, you cannot even use it when needed most.
Sign Now, and Pay Later.
Your biggest fear during healthcare is not litigation, but “Am I going to be o.k.?” Naturally, we all believe we will survive and that our doctor will do a good job. The majority of the time, this is true and our healthcare providers do amazing work.
But, what if the doctor makes a mistake? They are, after all, human. Should you be giving up a right to court access for harm and injury because of medical malpractice? Should you give up that right even before the harm ever occurs? Arbitration is expensive, very expensive. Your tax dollars already provide a free and open court system. Arbitration requires that you pay the costs of not one, but two judges. These judges charge upwards of $300 per hour. Of course, if you suffer medical malpractice, you might be injured so badly that you lose your job. If you cannot pay for an arbitrator ($300/hr!) you cannot seek compensation from the healthcare provider who made an error. Can you see why the healthcare providers want you to sign these up front? It practically guarantees you lose your right to seek compensation by making it too expensive.
Of course, you can always choose arbitration at a later date if you feel it is the best way to resolve a claim for malpractice.
Your Right, Your Say.
You get to say whether or not you will agree to arbitration for medical malpractice, instead of bringing a lawsuit in our open courts. The purpose of providing an open court for people hurt by medical mistakes is to eliminate the possibility that injured people and/or their families would seek ‘rough justice’ against the healthcare provider on their own. Our tort system also guarantees that the offending healthcare provider gets known in a public forum and serves as a warning to other patients. These rights to go to a public court are yours and you get to say what happens to them. You do not need to sign an arbitration agreement under Utah law before receiving healthcare! If presented with an arbitration agreement, politely agree to take it with you and that you will read it and consider it. If you have already signed an arbitration agreement, you only have 10 days in which to revoke that agreement. Do so immediately by sending a written letter to your healthcare provider and keep a copy for yourself. Don’t let the healthcare industry take away your right to a free, public and open court system and replace it with a private, pay-to-play method which might cost so much, you cannot even use it when needed most.
