Section 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.