Beynon

Plaintiff appeals from an order denying her petition to confirm a medical malpractice arbitration award against defendants Garden Grove Medical Group and Edward Vas Nunes, M.D. Plaintiffs claim arose out of medical treatment rendered by defendants pursuant to a group prepaid health care plan. The court upheld defendants’ con tention that the award was not binding because they had exercised the right reserved to them by the terms of the master policy to reject the arbitrators’ decision and to require the dispute to be resubmitted to another arbitration panel of three doctors. The central issue on this appeal concerns the enforceability of the provisions of the master policy giving the health care provider the right to reject an arbitration decision without cause and to require resubmission of the controversy to a second arbitration panel.

The pertinent facts are not in dispute:

When plaintiff first went to work for her employer in February 1974, she was told that a health care service plan provided by the California Medical Group Health Plan, Inc., was available to employees of the firm and was given a pamphlet describing the plan. After reading the pamphlet she signed…