HR 6126-Fairness in Nursing Home Arbitration Act - CBO Report

Under the bill, CBO expects that the majority of disputes that could arise between a resident and a facility operator would be litigated in state courts and, therefore, would not substantially affect the caseload of the federal court system. Cases challenging the nullification of a particular arbitration agreement would be addressed in a federal court, but CBO expects that any such cases would have an insignificant effect on the overall workload of the courts. Therefore, CBO estimates that implementing H.R. 6126 would have no significant cost over the next five years. Enacting the bill would have no effect on direct spending or revenues. By restricting the provisions that could be included in contracts between long-term care facilities and residents of such facilities (or their representatives), H.R. 6126 would impose an intergovernmental and private-sector mandate as defined in the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act (UMRA). Based on information from industry sources, CBO estimates that the direct cost to comply with the mandate to state, local, and tribal governments and the private sector would fall below the annual thresholds established in UMRA for intergovernmental and private-sector mandates ($68 million and $136 million, respectively, in 2008, adjusted annually for inflation).