Private healthcare contracts: difficult questions about unilateral termination for convenience

Abstract

This article examines the decision by Brazilian Superior Court of Justice (STJ) on Special Appeal 1,553,013-SP, reported by Minister Ricardo Villas Bôas Cuevas, partially granted to exclude the possibility of unilateral termination for convenience in private health care contracts, which the number of beneficiaries does not exceed 30 people. The commentary deals with the objective of private health care contracts, defining motivated and unmotivated denunciations – kind of unilateral termination for convenience – and the ways of controlling them. In the end, the commentary emphasizes the importance of recognizing abstract control to avoid the possibility of unmotivated denunciations for the health plan operator in the contracts examined.