Untwisting The Tale: HR 1255: THE Bill

The Text

Simple, Clear & Straightforward

"A BILL

To protect the interests of each resident of intermediate care facilities for the mentally retarded in class action lawsuits on behalf of such resident.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. PROTECTING THE INTERESTS OF EACH RESIDENT OF INTERMEDIATE CARE FACILITIES FOR THE MENTALLY RETARDED IN CLASS ACTION LAWSUITS ON BEHALF OF SUCH RESIDENT.

(a) In General- Notwithstanding any other provision of law, no entity that receives funds from the Federal Government may use such funds to file a class action lawsuit against an intermediate care facility for the mentally retarded on behalf of any resident of such facility unless the resident (or, if there is a legal representative of the resident, such legal representative), after receiving notice of the proposed class action lawsuit, has the opportunity to elect not to have the action apply to the resident.

(b) Notices; Resident Right of Withdrawal From Lawsuit-

(1) PLAINTIFF NOTICE OF PROPOSED LAWSUIT TO FACILITY- If an entity uses funds from the Federal Government to file a class action lawsuit against an intermediate care facility for the mentally retarded on behalf of residents of such facility, the entity shall provide notice of the proposed lawsuit to the facility at least 90 days before the date of filing of the lawsuit.

(2) FACILITY NOTICE OF PROPOSED LAWSUIT TO RESIDENTS- Not later than 30 days after the date the facility receives such notice, the facility shall provide notice of the proposed lawsuit to each resident of such facility on behalf of which the lawsuit is proposed to be filed and, if there is a legal representative of such a resident, to such representative.

(3) RESIDENT RIGHT TO WITHDRAW FROM LAWSUIT- A resident (or, if there is a legal representative of such a resident, the legal representative) may elect not to be part of such a proposed lawsuit by filing a notice of such decision with the facility within 60 days of the date the facility notifies the resident or legal representative of the proposed class lawsuit.

(c) Legal Representative Defined- In this section, the term `legal representative' means, with respect to a resident of an intermediate care facility for the mentally retarded, an individual who has been appointed under State law to be a legal guardian, conservator, or other representative for the resident and who is authorized under law to make decisions on behalf of the resident with respect to care and treatment of the resident in the facility.

(d) Effective Date- This section shall apply to lawsuits filed after the date of the enactment of this Act.

END"

Note: For background, visit: http://vor.net/legislative-voice/legislation/hr1255?q= (To go there, just click on title of this post!)

Thanks to Terri Anderson, Wa. State VOR rep for providing the text.

Saskia