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66 Wayne L. Rev. 291 (2020-2021)
Unconscionability as a Judicial Means for Curing the Healthcare Crisis

handle is hein.journals/waynlr66 and id is 293 raw text is: UNCONSCIONABILITY AS A JUDICIAL MEANS FOR CURING THE HEALTHCARE CRISIS JEFFREY T. HEWLETTt I. INTRODUCTION .................................................................................. 291 II. BACKGROUND .................................................................................. 294 A. A Brief History of Unconscionability......................................... 294 B. Modern Courts' Interpretation of Unconscionability................ 297 C. Problems in Medical Billing Practices...................................... 298 D. A Context-Specific Look at Unconscionability: How Courts Have Applied Unconscionability in Medical Billing Contracts for Uninsured Patients ............................................ 305 III. ANALYSIS........................................................................................ 308 A. Unconscionability Unequivocally Applies to Many Medical Billing Contracts...................................................................... 308 B. Plausible Explanations for Courts' Reluctance to Adopt Unconscionability in Medical Billing Contracts ..................... 312 1. Common Law Principles Against Weighing Consideration Inadequately Explain the Courts' General Reluctance to Find Uninsured Patients' Medical Billing Contracts U nconscionable ................................................................. 312 2. Maintaining the Status Quo of the Healthcare Market Is an Inadequate Justification for Refusing to Utilize Unconscionability on Inequitable Billing Contracts......... 314 IV. CONCLUSION...................................................................................316 APPENDIX A: STATISTICAL ANALYSIS ON U.C.C. AND COMMON LAW APPLICATION OF UNCONSCIONABILITY................................. 317 I. INTRODUCTION Rising healthcare costs continue to be a problem in the United States.' In just the past year alone, the U.S. spent $3.5 trillion on t B.S., Biomolecular Science, 2016, University of Michigan; J.D., 2020, Wayne State University Law School. A special thank you to Professor Vincent Wellman for his guidance, support, and insight throughout this Note. 1. Yasmeen Abutaleb, U.S. Healthcare Spending to Climb 5.3 Percent in 2018: Agency, THOMSON REUTERS (Feb. 14, 2018, 4:07 PM), https://www.reuters. com/article/us-usa-healthcare-spending/us-healthcare-spending-to- climb-53-percent-in-2018-agency-idUSKCN 1FY2ZD [http://web.archive.org/web/20200422141648/https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa- 291