ENROLLED

COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE

FOR

H. B. 4220

(By Delegates Staggers and Manchin)

[Passed March 8, 2014; in effect ninety days from passage.]

AN ACT to amend the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended, by adding thereto a new section, designated §16-5C-21, relating to requirements for agreements with nursing homes wherein a person waives their rights to trials by jury on claims arising from the nursing care of a nursing home resident; ensuring the court is not bound to find all or part of the contract enforceable, unenforceable, conscionable or unconscionable; and applying this section to all agreements entered into on or after January 1, 2015.

Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:

    That the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended, be amended by adding thereto a new section, designated §16-5C-21, to read as follows:

ARTICLE 5C. NURSING HOMES.

§16-5C-21. Jury trial waiver to be a separate document.

    (a) Every written agreement containing a waiver of a right to a trial by jury that is entered into between a nursing home and a person for the nursing care of a resident, must have as a separate and stand alone document any waiver of a right to a trial by jury.

    (b) Nothing in this section may be construed to require a court of competent jurisdiction to determine that the entire agreement or any portion thereof is enforceable, unenforceable, conscionable or unconscionable.

    (c) This section applies to all agreements entered into on or after January 1, 2015.