Obamacare On Trial

This short book analyzes the Obamacare case — focusing on many points the Supreme Court was never told about — including the fact that the constitutional framers themselves had approved mandates to buy health insurance!

“Anyone who cares about the Supreme Court's approach to constitutional issues – and especially about the claims of some Justices that they try to follow the Constitution's original meaning – must read Einer Elhauge's devastating analysis of what all nine Justices, and the hundreds of advocates whose briefs and arguments they studied, simply failed to take into account when the Supreme Court decided the Health Care Case of 2012. No history of that decision will be complete unless it includes this brilliant and eminently readable little book – a book that deserves to become an instant classic.” – Laurence H. Tribe, Harvard Law Professor, leading constitutional law scholar, acclaimed Supreme Court advocate, and author of many books, including the highly influential treatise, American Constitutional Law.

“An illuminating analysis of the Supreme Court decision on Obamacare that offers rigor and insight, written by a brilliant legal mind.” – Amy Chua, Yale Law Professor and author of World on Fire, Days of Empire, and Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother.

“Einer Elhauge is the single best and most incisive commentator on the constitutionality of the individual mandate and the Affordable Care Act more generally. His gathering of precedent and penetrating analysis will convince you that much of the Court's arguments were mistaken.” – Ezekiel J. Emanuel, M.D., Ph.D., University of Pennsylvania Professor and Chair of the Department of Medical Ethics and Health Policy, former Special Advisor for Health Policy to the Obama White House OMB, New York Times columnist, and author of many books on health care.

“Elhauge asked a brilliant and devastatingly simple question of the Supreme Court's so-called ‘originalists.’ They simply ignored it. This beautiful book tells a story history won't forget.” – Lawrence Lessig, Harvard Law Professor, and leading scholar and author of many books on Constitutional Law and Internet Law.

“Einer Elhauge brings to the debate over the individual mandate an extraordinary combination of skills: he is deeply knowledgeable about health policy, and he is also a terrific lawyer. This book is the result of his exceptional insight, and it demonstrates why the attacks on the health care reform law were so utterly misguided. Anyone who wants to understand this chapter in our history should read this book.” – David Strauss, University of Chicago Law Professor, author of The Living Constitution, and leading constitutional law scholar who has argued 18 cases before the Supreme Court.

“Elhauge's lucid account of the battle over health care mandates seeks answers to important questions wherever they may lie, without letting policy preferences or political ideology drive outcomes. That's a rare and refreshing approach. He re-inspires confidence in the notion that the Constitution's principles can unite people with disparate views, rather than being bent by a bare majority to whatever preordained task is at hand.” – Jonathan Zittrain, Harvard Law Professor, co-director of the Berkman Center, and author of The Future of the Internet -- And How to Stop It.

Einer Elhauge is the Petrie Professor of Law at Harvard Law School and founding director of the Petrie-Flom Center for Health Law Policy, Biotechnology and Bioethics. He served as Chairman of the Antitrust Advisory Committee to the Obama Campaign. He teaches a gamut of courses ranging from Antitrust, Contracts, Corporations, Legislation, and Health Care Law. Before coming to Harvard, he was a Professor of Law at the University of California at Berkeley, and clerked for Judge Norris on the 9th Circuit and Justice Brennan on the Supreme Court. He received both his A.B. and his J.D. from Harvard, graduating first in his law school class.

He is an author of numerous pieces on range of topics even broader than he teaches, including antitrust, public law, corporate law, patents, the legal profession, and health law policy. His most recent books include: Obamacare on Trial (2012), available at www.amazon.com; Research Handbook on the Economics of Antitrust Law (Edward Elgar Publishing Ltd. 2012); The Fragmentation of U.S. Health Care: Causes and Solutions (Oxford University Press 2010); Statutory Default Rules (Harvard University Press 2008); U.S. Antitrust Law and Economics (Foundation Press 2011); Global. Antitrust Law and Economics (Foundation Press 2011); and Global Competition Law and Economics (Hart Publishing 2011). For his website and publications, see http://www.law.harvard.edu/faculty/elhauge/.