(a) Any person subject to an arbitration agreement may seek to compel arbitration, pursuant to section seventy-five hundred three or section thirty hundred forty-five of this chapter.
§ 7556.Demand for arbitration; minors; consolidation of proceedings
Article 75-A. Health Care Arbitration · Last amended 1986 · Last verified July 21, 2026
In one sentenceCPLR 7556 governs how a demand to compel health care arbitration is made, binds minors and incompetent persons through a guardian's election, requires consolidation of overlapping proceedings, and lets non-consenting parties force the claim into court instead.
Full Text of CPLR 7556
(b) Notwithstanding the provisions of section twelve hundred nine of this chapter, a minor child and a person judicially determined to be incompetent shall be bound to arbitrate disputes, controversies, or issues upon the execution of an arbitration election on the person’s behalf by a parent, legal guardian, committee, conservator or other person legally authorized to enroll such minor or incompetent person in a health maintenance organization, in accordance with the provisions of section forty-five hundred six-a of the public health law.
(c) Separate arbitration proceedings brought pursuant to this article, which involve common question of law and fact, shall be consolidated into a single arbitration proceeding.
(d) Except for arbitrations commenced pursuant to section thirty hundred forty-five of this chapter, any case involving a person who is not bound to participate in the arbitration proceeding pursuant to subdivision (e) of section forty-four hundred six-a of the public health law shall not be subject to the arbitration proceeding, unless such person and all parties who are subject to the arbitration consent to the arbitration of the claim. Absent such consent, any party may seek to stay such arbitrations, pursuant to section seventy-five hundred three of this chapter, notwithstanding any time limits that may otherwise apply to such a stay, and require the matter to proceed as a civil action. In the event that such an arbitration is stayed, the arbitration administrator shall forthwith transfer the case to the clerk of the court in the venue designated by the plaintiff, where the case shall be expeditiously reviewed and assigned in accordance with rules promulgated by the chief administrator of the courts. If the demand for arbitration was made or a notice of intention to arbitrate was served within the limitations of time specified by article two of this chapter, and the arbitration was subsequently stayed and transferred to a court, the action shall be deemed to have been timely commenced, in accordance with the provisions of subdivision (a) of section two hundred five of this chapter.
Plain-English Summary
Subdivision (a) points anyone bound by an HMO arbitration agreement to the general arbitration-compelling mechanisms elsewhere in the CPLR or in the no-fault arbitration provision, rather than creating a separate compulsion procedure just for Article 75-A. Subdivision (b) then addresses a group who can't consent for themselves: a minor child or a person judicially found incompetent is nonetheless bound to arbitrate once a parent, guardian, committee, conservator, or other legally authorized person makes the arbitration election on their behalf, notwithstanding the CPLR's general infant-compromise provision.
When multiple arbitration proceedings under this article share common questions of law or fact, subdivision (c) requires they be consolidated into one proceeding, avoiding duplicate panels working the same dispute from different angles. But consolidation and the arbitration requirement itself have a limit: subdivision (d) protects anyone who isn't bound to participate under the relevant public health law provision. Unless that person and every party who is subject to arbitration consent to bringing the claim into the arbitration, any party may move to stay the arbitration and force the matter into a civil action instead, and that stay motion isn't limited by the time constraints that would otherwise apply.
If a case does get stayed and transferred out of arbitration, the arbitration administrator sends it to the clerk of court in the plaintiff's chosen venue, where it gets expedited review and assignment. And if the original demand for arbitration or notice of intent to arbitrate was served within the statute of limitations, the resulting civil action is deemed timely commenced even though it started as an arbitration.
Frequently Asked Questions
How can a minor or incompetent person be bound to arbitrate under this article?
A parent, legal guardian, committee, conservator, or other person legally authorized to enroll them in an HMO can execute the arbitration election on their behalf, and that election binds them notwithstanding the CPLR's general infant-compromise rule.
What happens when several arbitration proceedings involve the same questions?
CPLR 7556(c) requires that separate proceedings involving common questions of law and fact be consolidated into a single arbitration proceeding.
Can someone who isn't bound to arbitrate be forced into the proceeding?
No. Unless that person and all parties subject to arbitration consent, any party may move to stay the arbitration and require the matter to proceed as a civil action instead.
Is there a time limit on moving to stay an arbitration under CPLR 7556(d)?
No. The section allows the motion to stay notwithstanding any time limits that would otherwise apply to such a stay.
What happens to the statute of limitations if a case moves from arbitration to court under this section?
If the demand for arbitration or notice of intention to arbitrate was served within the statute of limitations, the resulting civil action is deemed timely commenced even after the stay and transfer.
Amendment History
Add, L 1986, ch 266, § 5, eff July 8, 1986.
Source & verification. Provision text, History, and Advisory
Committee Notes are reproduced verbatim from the Consolidated Laws of New York.
Last verified July 21, 2026.
· Official source
Also known as: compel HMO arbitration New Yorkconsolidate health care arbitration proceedingsminor bound to arbitratestay arbitration transfer to court