Fight Looms Over Maryland Nursing Home Arbitration Clause
Beulah Addison suffered a stroke in September 2005 and had to enter Lochearn Nursing Home in Baltimore, Maryland. Addison alleges that the facility delayed in filing her Medicaid application so that it could continue to charge her a higher daily rate for several months. The delay cost Addison over $70,000. Reportedly, Addison also alleges that a nursing home employee put her in contact with individuals who tried to purchase her home at a rate far less than its worth.
A circuit court judge ruled that Addison could not be forced into arbitration, but that decision was overturned by Maryland's Court of Special Appeals. Addison has appealed to the Court of Appeals to allow her to take her fraud claims against the facility to trial rather than the arbitration that the facility perfers. The Court of Appeals has not indicated when it will rule on Addison v. Lochearn Nursing Home LLC d/b/a Future Care-Lochearn, No. 134, September Term 2008.
