§ 7556. Demand for arbitration; minors; consolidation of proceedings.
(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.

(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.