Johnson v. Kindred Healthcare, Inc.

Summary

The Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court held that a health care agent acting solely under a Massachusetts health care proxy lacks authority to bind the principal to an arbitration agreement concerning disputes arising from the principal’s nursing-facility stay. The court vacated the order compelling mediation or arbitration and remanded the case for further proceedings.

Holdings

1. A health care agent's decision to enter into an arbitration agreement is not a health care decision under G. L. c. 201D and therefore does not bind the principal when the agreement was executed solely under the authority of a health care proxy.
2. The term health care decision must be construed narrowly so that a health care agent's authority does not encompass business, financial, property, or legal-claim decisions allocated to attorneys in fact, guardians, or conservators.

Questions Presented

1. Whether a health care agent acting solely under a Massachusetts health care proxy has authority under G. L. c. 201D to enter into an arbitration agreement binding the principal.
2. Whether an agreement to arbitrate claims arising from a principal's stay at a nursing facility is a health care decision within the meaning of the Massachusetts health care proxy statute.
3. Whether the Superior Court properly compelled mediation or arbitration and stayed the underlying proceedings.

Disposition

reversed_and_remanded