On 16 November 2009, in Moffett v. Life Care Centers of America , No. 08SC510 (2009), the Colorado Supreme Court held that a person possessing a power of attorney may lawfully sign an arbitration agreement on behalf of an incapacitated patient. A mother who suffered from Alzheimer's disease had executed a power of attorney empowering her son to act on her behalf. When the mother entered a nursing home, the son signed her admission forms, which included an arbitration agreement. The court held that Colorado's Health Care Availability Act (the Act) did not expressly address whether a person holding a power of attorney can validly execute an arbitration agreement, "but the language and purposes of the [Act], combined with Colorado's general preference for arbitration agreements and the statutory design governing POAs, demonstrate the [state legislature's] intent to allow a person holding a POA to enter into an arbitration agreement."

Although the decision turned ultimately on the construction of the Act, the court's decision illustrates the judicial and legislative policy favouring arbitration and, in line with that general policy, potentially broadens the scope of parties who can enter a valid arbitration agreement.