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Article: Arbitration Emereges a Troublesome Issue for HMOs
- Article from:
- THE JOURNAL RECORD
- Article date:
- December 14, 1994
- Author:
CopyrightCopyright 1994 The Journal Record. Provided by ProQuest LLC. (Hide copyright information)
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LOS ANGELES _ Terre Wertz said she was told everything was
going fine with her pregnancy. But her son was born with multiple
birth defects, which she believes should have been detected with
better prenatal care.
She decided to sue her health plan, Cigna Health Plan of
California, but the suburban Sylmar, Calif., resident found that
she could not.
When she joined the HMO years earlier, Wertz said, she
unknowingly signed away her rights to a court trial and agreed to
settle all disputes through arbitration.
Whether they know it or not, millions of Californians have
done the same.
Most California health maintenance organizations require their
members to enter into binding arbitration ...