[Congressional Bills 111th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 1237 Introduced in House (IH)]

111th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 1237

  To amend chapter 1 of title 9 of United States Code with respect to 
                              arbitration.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                           February 26, 2009

  Ms. Linda T. Sanchez of California (for herself, Mr. Grijalva, Ms. 
Matsui, Mr. Johnson of Georgia, Ms. Lee of California, Ms. Zoe Lofgren 
of California, Mr. Stark, Mr. Watt, and Ms. Schakowsky) introduced the 
  following bill; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
  To amend chapter 1 of title 9 of United States Code with respect to 
                              arbitration.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Fairness in Nursing Home Arbitration 
Act of 2009''.

SEC. 2. AMENDMENTS.

    (a) Arbitration of Certain Controversies.--Chapter 1 of title 9, 
United States Code, is amended by adding at the end the following:
``Sec. 17. Validity and enforceability
    ``(a) Definitions.--For purposes of this section:
            ``(1) Long-term care facility.--The term `long-term care 
        facility' means--
                    ``(A) any skilled nursing facility as defined in 
                1819(a) of the Social Security Act;
                    ``(B) any nursing facility as defined in 1919(a) of 
                the Social Security Act; or
                    ``(C) a public facility, proprietary facility, or 
                facility of a private nonprofit corporation that--
                            ``(i) makes available to adult residents 
                        supportive services to assist the residents in 
                        carrying out activities such as bathing, 
                        dressing, eating, getting in and out of bed or 
                        chairs, walking, going outdoors, using the 
                        toilet, or obtaining or taking medication; and
                            ``(ii) provides a dwelling place (which may 
                        contain a full kitchen and bathroom) for 
                        residents in order to deliver supportive 
                        services described in clause (i), that includes 
                        common rooms and other facilities appropriate 
                        for the provision of such services to residents 
                        of the facility;
                but excludes a facility, or portion of a facility, that 
                either does not provide the services described in 
                clause (i) or has as its primary purpose to educate or 
                to treat substance abuse problems.
            ``(2) Pre-dispute arbitration agreement.--The term `pre-
        dispute arbitration agreement' means any agreement to arbitrate 
        a dispute that arises after such agreement is made.
    ``(b) Invalidity of Pre-Dispute Arbitration Agreements.--A pre-
dispute arbitration agreement between a long-term care facility and a 
resident of such facility (or person acting on behalf of such resident, 
including a person with financial responsibility for such resident) 
shall not be valid or specifically enforceable.
    ``(c) Application to Agreements.--This section shall apply to any 
pre-dispute arbitration agreement between a long-term care facility and 
a resident of such facility (or a person acting on behalf of such a 
resident, including a person with financial responsibility for such 
resident), and shall apply to a pre-dispute arbitration agreement 
entered into either at any time during the admission process or at any 
time after the admission process.
    ``(d) Application of Federal Law.--A determination as to whether 
this chapter applies to an arbitration agreement described in this 
section shall be determined under Federal law. Except as otherwise 
provided in this chapter, the validity or enforceability of such 
agreement shall be determined by the court, rather than the arbitrator, 
irrespective of whether the party opposing arbitration challenges such 
agreement specifically or in conjunction with any other term of the 
contract containing such agreement.''.
    (b) Conforming Amendment.--The table of sections in chapter 1 of 
title 9, United States Code, is amended by adding at the end the 
following:

``17. Validity and enforcement.''.

SEC. 3. EFFECTIVE DATE; APPLICATION OF AMENDMENTS.

    (a) Effective Date.--Except as provided in subsection (b), this Act 
and the amendments made by this Act shall take effect on the date of 
the enactment of this Act.
    (b) Application of Amendments.--The amendments made by this Act 
shall apply with respect to agreements made, amended, altered, 
modified, renewed, or extended on or after the date of the enactment of 
this Act.
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