Does Indebtedness Influence Health? A Preliminary Inquiry

Jacoby M.B. Sullivan T.A. , and Warren E. , “Rethinking the Debates Over Health Care Financing: Evidence From the Bankruptcy Courts,” New York University Law Review, 76 (2001): 375–418.

See, e.g., id.

See, e.g., Federal Reserve Board, Federal Reserve Statistical Release G.19, Consumer Credit October 2001 (released December 7, 2001), available at <http://www.federalreserve.gov/releases/g19/20011207/>.

The Nilson Report, 752 (Oxnard, California: HSN Consultants, Inc., November 2001): 1–10 (reporting percentage increases in purchase volume on bank cards in 2000 as compared to 1990); “Fears Over Consumer Debt Increase,” BBC News (September 13, 2001) (reporting on Wales).

Sullivan T.A. Warren E. , and Westbrook J.L. , The Fragile Middle Class: Americans in Debt, 28 (New Haven: Yale, 2000) (citing Hodge R.W. and Treiman D.J. , “Class Identification in the United States,” American Journal of Sociology, 73 (March 1968): at 535, 537); Manning R.D. , Credit Card Nation; The Consequences of America's Addiction to Credit (New York: Basic Books, 2000); Schor J.B. , The Overspent American; Upscaling, Downshifting, and the New Consumer (New York: Basic Books, 1998).

See generally Jacoby M.B. , “Collecting Debts from the Ill and Injured; The Rhetorical Significance, but Practical Irrelevance, of Culpability and Ability to Pay,” American University Law Review, 51 (2001): 229–71.

Lovallo W.R. , Stress & Health; Biological and Psychological Interactions (Thousand Oaks, California: Sage Publications, 1997): at xii.

Kasl S.V. , “Stress and Health Among the Elderly: Overview of Issues,” in Kykle M.L. Kahana E. , and Kowal J. , eds., Stress & Health Among the Elderly (New York: Spring Publishing Co., 1992): 5–34.

O'Leary A. Brown S. , and Suarez-Al-Adam M. , “Stress and Immune Function,” in Miller T.W. , ed., Clinical Disorders and Stressful Life Events (Madison, Connecticut: International Universities Press, 1997): at 181; Gatz M. , “Stress, Control, and Psychological Interventions,” in Kykle Kahana , and Kowal , eds., supra note 8, at 209–22, at 209–11; Ames S.C. , “A Prospective Study of the Impact of Stress on the Quality of Life: An Investigation of Low Income Individuals with Hypertension,” Annals of Behavioral Medicine, 23, no. 2 (Spring 2001): 112–19.

See, e.g., Blumenthal J.A. , “Usefulness of Psychosocial Treatment of Mental Stress-Induced Myocardial Ischemia in Men,” American Journal of Cardiology, 89 (January 15, 2002):164–68, at 167.

Ryan M. , Social Work and Debt Problems (Aldershot, England: Avebury, 1996): at 36. See also Medoff J. and Harless A. , The Indebted Society; Anatomy of an Ongoing Disaster (New York: Little Brown & Co., 1996): at 157.

Daly H.F. III , “Into the Red to Stay in the Pink: The Hidden Cost of Being Uninsured,” Health Matrix, 12 (2002): 39–61, at 41–43.

Caplovitz D. , Consumers in Trouble; A Study of Debtors in Default (New York: The Free Press, 1974): at 8.

Id. at 282–83.

Id. at 288.

Parker G. , Getting and Spending; Credit and Debt in Britain (Aldershot, England: Avebury, 1990): at 43–45.

Id. at 171–72.

Id. at 173.

Drentea P. and Lavrakas P.J. , “Over the Limit: The Association Among Health, Race and Debt,” Social Science & Medicine, 50 (2000): 517–29, at 518.

Id. at 518.

Id. at 519.

Id. at 527.

Havlik R.J. Vukasin A.P. , and Ariyan S. , “The Impact of Stress on the Clinical Presentation of Melanoma,” Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery, 90, no. 1 (1992): 57–61.

Id. at 59–60.

Genco R.J. , “Relationship of Stress, Disease, and Inadequate Coping Behaviors to Periodontal Disease,” Journal of Periodontology, 70, no. 7 (1999): 711–23.

Id. at 715–17.

Id. at 711–12.

Durkheim E. , Suicide: A Study in Sociology (New York: Free Press, 1966) (originally published in 1887).

Fuyono I. , “Japan: Suicide; A Silent Epidemic,” Far Eastern Economic Review, September 28, 2000; Wire U.N. , “Suicide: Japan Rate Falls; Economy Still Cited for Many Deaths,” August 10, 2001; Bremmer B. , “A Japanese Way of Death; The Country's Attitudes Toward Suicide — Now at Epidemic Levels — Illustrate the Limits of a Common Global Culture,” Business Week Online, August 22, 2000; Kamimura M. , “As Japan's Economy Stumbles, Suicides Near Record Levels,” CNN.com (September 13, 1998), available at <http://www.cnn.com/World/asiapcf/9809/13/japan.suicides/>.

Dudley K.M. , Debt and Dispossession: Farm Loss in America's Heartland (Chicago, Illinois: University of Chicago Press, 2000): at 103, 129; Jackman T. , “In Herndon, Smoldering Nuclear Family Explodes; Tormented Father Could See No Way Out,” Washington Post, November 19, 2001, at CI (documenting instance of financial-stress-related familicide outside of farming context).

Weyerer S. and Wiedenmann A. , “Economic Factors and the Rates of Suicide in Germany Between 1881 and 1989,” Psychological Reports, 76, no. 3, part 2 (June 1995): 1331–41.

Id. at 1331.

Id. at 1331, 1338.

Id. at 1339.

Jacoby Sullivan , and Warren , supra note 1, at 376–77; Jacoby M.B. Sullivan T.A. , and Warren E. , “Medical Problems and Bankruptcy Filings,” Norton Bankruptcy Law Adviser, 5 (May 2000): 1–12.

Id. at 387.

Id. at 390.

See generally id. at 379, table 1.

Sullivan Warren , and Westbrook , supra note 5, at 269.

For text of the 1999 questionnaire, see Jacoby Sullivan Warren , supra note 36, at 416–18. For the text of the 1991 questionnaire and information on how it was coded, see Sullivan Warren , and Westbrook , supra note 5, at 270–72, form 1.1.

Sullivan Warren , and Westbrook , supra note 5.

Stanley D.T. and Girth M. , Bankruptcy: Problems, Process, Reform (Washington, D.C.: Brookings Press, 1971): at 48.

Flynn E. and Bermant G. , “The Class of 2000,” American Bankruptcy Institute Journal, October 2001. See also Daly , supra note 12 (providing additional new data on medical debt in bankruptcy and other financial fallout from medical problems); Shuchman P. , “The Average Bankrupt: A Description and Analysis of 753 Personal Bankruptcy Filings in Nine States,” Commercial Law Journal, 88 (1983): 288–307; Shuchman P. , “New Jersey Debtors 1982–1983: An Empirical Study,” Seton Hall Law Review, 15 (1985): 541–92 (finding, in single district and nine-state studies in the late 70s and early 80s, that about half the debtors had medical debts).

Domowitz I. and Sartain R.L. , “Determinants of the Consumer Bankruptcy Decision,” Journal of Finance, 54 (1999): 403–20, at 413. See also SMR Research Corp., The Personal Bankruptcy Crisis, 1997: Demographics, Causes, Implications & Solutions (1997): 94–95 (citing medical debt as a “central problem in bankruptcy” based on comparison of bankruptcy filing rates and health insurance coverage rates at the state level).

See, e.g., Fay S. Hurst E. , and White M. , “The Bankruptcy Decision: Does Stigma Matter?,” University of Michigan Department of Economics Working Paper 98–01 (Jan. 1998), available at <http://www.econ.lsa.umich.edu/wpweb/fhw.pdf>.

In a commentary on various studies, Jones and Zywicki maintain that “no correlation has been shown between such problems, admittedly a factor in some core level of bankruptcies, and the recent explosive growth of filings.” Jones E.H. and Zywicki T.J. , “It's Time for Means Testing,” Brigham Young Law Review, 1999 (1999): 177–248, at 244 n.274 (citing newspaper articles to show stability of health-care costs during period of increasing bankruptcy filings).

Manning R.D. , Credit Card Nation; The Consequences of America's Addiction to Credit (New York: Basic Books, 2000): at 4; Sullivan Warren , and Westbrook , supra note 5, at 137.

Burris S. , “Introduction: Merging Law, Human Rights, and Social Epidemiology,” Journal of Law, Medicine & Ethics, 30, no. 4 (2002): 498–509, at 501.

Burris S. Kawachi I. , and Sarat A. , “Integrating Law and Social Epidemiology,” Journal of Law, Medicine & Ethics, 30, no. 4 (2002): 510–21.

Woodward W.J. Jr. , “Clearing the Underbrush for Real Life Contracting,” Law & Social Inquiry, 24 (1999): 99–141, at 116. Occasionally, a contract is invalidated or altered by a court due to unconscionability or a related doctrine. Uniform Commercial Code § 2–302 (2001); Jones v. Star Credit Corp. , 298 N.Y.S.2d 264 (N.Y. Sup. Ct. 1969). That, however, is not a routine occurrence. See, e.g., Carnival Cruise Lines, Inc. v. Shute , 499 U.S. 585 (1991); Caspi v. Microsoft Network, 732 A.2d 528 (N.J. Super. Ct. App. Div. 1999).

Board of Governors, Federal Reserve, The Profitability of Credit Card Operations of Depository Institutions, An Annual Report by the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, submitted to the Congress pursuant to Section 8 of the Fair Credit and Charge Card Disclosure Act of 1988 (June 2001): 1–9, at 5 (citing The Nilson Report, April 2001, and BAI Global, Inc. press release, March 2001 (reporting 3.54 billion direct mail solicitations in 2000 and 452.9 million VISA and MasterCards already in circulation in 2000, excluding debit cards)), available at <http://www.federalreserve.gov/boarddocs/rptcongress/creditcard/2001/ccprofit.pdf>. The Federal Reserve also reports that the response rate to these solicitations is 0.6 percent.

General Accounting Office, Live Loan Checks: Information on Unsolicited Consumer Loans for Preapproved Borrowers, GGD-98-176 (August 14, 1998); National Bankruptcy Review Commission, Bankruptcy: The Next Twenty Years (1997): at 190; In re Tamecki, 229 F.3d 205, 209 (3d Cir. 2000) (Rendell, J., dissenting); In re Leonard, 158 B.R. 839 (Bankr. D. Colo. 1993).

See, e.g., Board of Governors, Federal Reserve, supra note 53, at 6; Kennedy M.W. , “Don't Let Your Client Be Labeled a Predatory Lender,” Illinois Bar Journal, 89 (2001): 595–97, at 595.

Jackson T.H. , The Logic and Limits of Bankruptcy Law (Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1986); Aaron H.J. , ed., Behavioral Dimensions of Retirement Economics (Washington, D.C.: Brookings Press, 1999); Ausubel L.M. , “Credit Card Defaults, Credit Card Profits, and Bankruptcy,” American Bankruptcy Law Journal, 71 (1997): 249–70. But see Zywicki T.J. , “The Economics of Credit Cards,” Chapman Law Review, 3 (2000): 79–172, 127 (questioning support for underestimation or irrationality).

See, e.g., 15 U.S.C. §§ 1601 et seq. (Truth in Lending Act) (2000). See generally Braucher J. , “Rent-Seeking and Risk-Fixing in the New Statutory Law of Electronic Commerce: Difficulties in Moving Consumer Protection Online,” Wisconsin Law Review, 2001 (2001): 527–64, at 527, 528.

See, e.g., Eggert K. , “Held Up in Due Course: Predatory Lending, Securitization, and the Holder in Due Course Doctrine,” Creighton Law Review, 35 (2002): 503–640, at 503, 520; Eskridge W.N. Jr. , “One Hundred Years of Ineptitude: The Need for Mortgage Rules Consonant with the Economic and Psychological Dynamics of the Home Sale and Loan Transaction,” Virginia Law Review, 70 (1984): 1083–1217, at 1083, 1133.

See, e.g., Havard C.J. , “Invisible Markets Netting Visible Results: When Sub-Prime Lending Becomes Predatory,” Oklahoma City University Law Review, 26 (2001): 1057–80, at 1057, 1072 n.37; 15 U.S.C. § 1637 (disclosures required for open end credit plans) (2000).

Marquette National Bank of Minneapolis v. First of Omaha Service Corp. , 439 U.S. 299 (1978). See generally Zywicki , supra note 56, at 146.

White J.J. , “The Usury Trompe L'oeil,” South Carolina Law Review, 51 (2000): 445–66, at 445.

For example, the Home Ownership and Equity Protection Act amended the Truth in Lending Act to curb so-called predatory lending practices in part by restricting the use of short-term balloon loans. See, e.g., 15 U.S.C. § 1602aa (2000). A few states have enacted predatory lending laws and others have considered it. Kennedy , supra note 55.

See, e.g., Posner E.A. , “The Political Economy of the Bankruptcy Reform Act of 1978,” Michigan Law Review, 96 (1997): 47–126, at 52.

See, e.g., Bender S.W. , “Rate Regulation at the Crossroads of Usury and Unconscionability: The Case for Regulating Abusive Commercial and Consumer Interest Rates Under the Unconscionability Doctrine,” Houston Law Review, 31 (1994): 721–811, at 723; White , supra note 61, at 449, 460.

11 U.S.C. § 523(a)(1) (2000); 11 U.S.C. § 523(a)(8) (2000).

Schor J.B. , The Overworked American; The Unexpected Decline of Leisure (New York: Basic Books, 1992): at 107–38.

See sources cited supra note 49.

See, e.g., Ali P.A.U. , The Law of Secured Finance; An International Survey of Security Interests over Personal Property (Oxford: University Press, 2002): at 1.

Uniform Commercial Code §§ 9–609, 9–610 (2001).

See, e.g., General Accounting Office, Debt Collection Improvement Act of 1996; Department of Agriculture Faces Challenges Implementing Certain Key Provisions (December 5, 2001): 1–14, at 3 (statement of G.T. Engel); 31 U.S.C. § 37203 (2000).

E.g., Duca J.N. , “The Interaction Between Mechanics's Lien Law and the Bankruptcy Code,” Business Lawyer, 3 (1998): 1283–313, at 1283.

See generally LoPucki L.M. , “The Death of Liability,” Yale Law Journal, 106 (1998): 1–78, at 1, 8–10.

See generally Martaus C.M. , “Garnishment of Employee Wages in Ohio: Whose Money Is It Anyway?,” Ohio Northern University Law Review, 18 (1991): 197–216. But see Consumer Credit Protection Act, 15 U.S.C. § 1671 (limiting wage garnishment) (2000).

LoPucki , supra note 73, at 10–11.

See, e.g., Conn. Gen. Stat. Ann. § 52–352b(f) (West 2002) (providing exemption for health aids necessary for the exemptioner to work or to sustain health).

National Bankruptcy Review Commission, supra note 54, at 122.

One exception is the Illinois exemption for an individual's right of publicity, which also precludes security interests being taken in this asset. 765 Ill. Comp. Stat. § 1075/15 (2001). See generally Jacoby M.B. and Zimmerman D.L. , “Foreclosing on Fame: Exploring the Uncharted Boundaries of the Right of Publicity,” New York University Law Review, 77 (2002, forthcoming).

Whitford W. , “A Critique of the Consumer Credit Collection System,” Wisconsin Law Review, 1979 (1979): 1047–143, at 1055; Sullivan T.A. Warren E. , and Westbrook J.L. , As We Forgive Our Debtors: Bankruptcy and Consumer Credit in America (New York: Oxford, 1989): at 305.

See, e.g., Whitford , supra note 79, at 1055.

15 U.S.C. §§ 1692 et seq. (2000).

See 15 U.S.C. § 1692a(6) (2000).

One exception is the currently pending H.R. 333 § 201 107th Cong. (2001) (empowering court to limit claims against debtor's bankruptcy estate if creditor unreasonably refused to engage in workout activities prior to bankruptcy).

Colloquium, “Panel Discussion: Consumer Bankruptcy,” Fordham Law Review, 67 (1999): 1315–68, at 1315, 1341–43 (comments of Prof. Karen Gross describing her experiences to do small-dollar workouts at Legal Aid).

Memorandum from Elizabeth Warren to Melissa Jacoby with attached indexed comments (on file with author): at TX-160.

Id. at TX-28.

11 U.S.C. § 362, 524(a) (2000).

Skeel D.A. , Debt's Dominion: A History of Bankruptcy Law in America (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2001): at 193.

Whitford W.C. , “The Ideal of Individualized Justice: Consumer Bankruptcy as Consumer Protection, and Consumer Protection in Consumer Bankruptcy,” American Bankruptcy Law Journal, 68 (1994): 397–417, at 397, 401.

Culhane M.B. and White M.M. , “Debt After Discharge, An Empirical Study of Reaffirmation,” American Bankruptcy Law Journal, 73 (1999): 709–74, at 709, 713; Gross K. , “Perceptions and Misperceptions of Reaffirmation Agreements,” Commercial Law Journal, 102 (1997): 339–52.

Whitford , supra note 89, at 402.

Culhane and White , supra note 90; 11 U.S.C. § 524(c) (2000).

11 U.S.C. § 523(a) (2000); National Bankruptcy Review Commission, supra note 54, at 180.

Jacoby , supra note 6, at 260.

H.R. 333, 107th Cong. (2001).

Jacoby , supra note 6, at 232, 250–51.

Personal Bankruptcy Consumer Credit Crises: Hearings Before the Subcomm. on Admin. Oversight and the Courts of the Senate Comm. on the Judiciary, 105th Cong., 1st Sess. (April 11, 1997) (statement of Sen. Charles Grassley, Chairman), 1997 WL 182505 (F.D.C.H.); 145 Cong. Rec. S13930–01 (daily ed. November 4, 1999) (statement of Sen. Charles Grassley); Press Release, Rep. George Gekas (February 3, 1998); 144 Cong. Rec. E88 (daily ed. February 4, 1998) (statement of Rep. George Gekas); Schlesinger J.M. , “House Approves Bankruptcy Overhaul Amid Criticism Bill May Be Too Tough,” Wall Street Journal, May 6, 1999, at A28.

See Press Release, Grassley Continues Effort to Overhaul Bankruptcy System (January 31, 2001), available at <http://www.senate.gov/∼grassley/releases/2001/p01r1-31.htm>. See generally Skeel , supra note 88, at 205, 208; Tabb C.J. , “The Death of Consumer Bankruptcy in the United States,” Bankruptcy Developments Journal, 18 (2001): 1–49.

Passaro V. , “Who'll Stop the Drain: Reflections on the Art of Going Broke,” Harper's Magazine, August 1998, at 35–42, at 36.

LoPucki , supra note 73, at 12; Jacoby , supra note 6, at 240 n.39, n.40.

See, e.g., Brody E. , “Paying Back Your Country Through Income-Contingent Student Loans,” San Diego Law Review, 31 (1994): 449–518.

1 Mertens Law of Federal Income Taxation §5:18 (Supp. November 2001).

Shaviro D.N. , “Does More Sophisticated Mean Better? A Critique of Alternative Approaches to Sourcing the Interest Expense of U.S. Multinationals,” Tax Law Review, 54 (2001): 353–420, at 395; Domenici P.V. , “The Unamerican Spirit of the Federal Income Tax,” Harvard Journal on Legislation, 31 (1994): 273–313, at 310–311.

26 U.S.C. § 163 (1994) (interest deductions). See also 26 U.S.C. § 162 (2000) (trade or business expense deductions).

Forrester J.P. , “Mortgaging the American Dream: A Critical Reevaluation of the Federal Government's Promotion of Home Equity Financing,” Tulane Law Review, 69 (1994): 373–456, at 374 n.1 (citing presidential statements advocating home ownership and advocating elimination of federal promotion of home equity financing).

Rev. Rul., 92–80, 1992 WL 224893 (September 22, 1992); Hymel M.L. , “Consumerism, Advertising, and the Role of Tax Policy,” Virginia Tax Review, 20 (2000): 347–466, at 347–348, 352.

Hymel , supra note 106, at 355.

Schor , supra note 5; Hymel , supra note 106.

Grossman M.R. and Meyer K.G. , “Agricultural Credit Institutions, Operations, and Guarantees in the United States,” American Journal of Comparative Law, 46 (1998): 275–315, at 315; Carpenter S. , “Farm Service Agency Credit Programs and USD A National Appeals Division,” Drake Journal of Agricultural Law, 3 (1998): 35–62; Landis M.L. , “Let Me Next Time Be Tried by Fire: Disaster Relief and the Origins of the American Welfare State 1789–1874,” Northwestern University Law Review, 92 (1998): 967–1034, at 974 n.40. See generally Manning, supra note 5, at 164–66.

Roots R. , “The Student Loan Debt Crisis; A Lesson in Unintended Consequences,” Southwestern University Law Review, 29 (2001): 501–27; Ryman A. , “Contract Obligation: A Discussion of Morality, Bankruptcy, and Student Debt,” Drake Law Review, 42 (1993): 205–24, at 217–23; Schrag P.G. , “The Federal Income-Contingent Repayment Option for Law Student Loans,” Hofstra Law Review, 29 (2001): 733–862, at 736.

E.g., Roots , supra note 110.

Medoff and Harless , supra note 11, at 199.

145 Cong. Rec. H2655–02 (May 5, 1999) (statement of Rep. Henry Hyde) (“Lastly, let me pay my respects to the creditor lobby. They are awesome.”); Hyde H.J. , “Why Squeeze Every Last Penny from the Bankrupt?,” The New York Times, May 18, 1999, at A23.

The Bankruptcy Code precludes government units and private employers from discriminating in certain respects against bankruptcy filers “solely” on the basis of insolvency or a bankruptcy filing. 11 U.S.C. § 525 (2000).

See sources cited supra note 97.

Hymel , supra note 106, at 366–67.

E.g., Taylor C.J. , “Know When to Say When: An Examination of the Tax Deduction for Alcohol Advertising that Targets Minorities,” Law & Social Inequality, 12 (1994): 573–612, at 575–76.

See Jacoby , supra note 6.

See, e.g., Hitt Greg , “Bankruptcy-Overhaul Nears Passage — Stringency, Not Forgiveness, Distinguishes Measure Backed by Financial-Services Industry,” Wall Street Journal, May 8, 2002, at A4; Posner , supra note 63, at 58–61; Skeel , supra note 88, at 14–15; Jacoby , supra note 6.

See, e.g., Gostin L.O. , “Public Health Law in a New Century; Part II: Public Health Power and Limits,” JAMA, 283, no. 22 (June 14, 2000): 2979–84, at 2982–83.