Some Thoughts on "Healthism" and Employee Benefits in the Age of Trump Academic Article uri icon

abstract

  • I look forward to the publication of HEALTHISM: HEALTH STATUS DISCRIMINATION AND THE LAW (hereinafter Healthism), by Jessica L. Roberts of the University of Houston Law Center and Elizabeth Weeks Leonard of the University of Georgia Law School. On November 4, 2016, at the invitation of Professors Roberts and Weeks, I participated in a conference in which the discussants commented on Roberts and Weeks' forthcoming book and shared thoughts about the relevance of that work to various related fields. What follows here is somewhat different than those comments-although the general themes are the sameand is so in part because, four days after the conference, Donald J. Trump was, contrary to the predictions of virtually all knowledgeable observers,' elected the 45th president of the United States. As I explain in more detail below, I am concerned that the Trump Administration will distract scholars from continuing important work they have begun, and, relatedly, from fully engaging with the works of other scholars that deserve attention. Roberts and Weeks' novel is such a work, and one that has already, through the process of scholarly engagement, evolved in promising directions that should continue, even after the book's publication. Although I cannot say I agree with every argument the book makes, I would be incredibly disappointed and discouraged if this provocative and conversation-starting book did not receive the attention, praise, and criticism it clearly deserves merely because the nation elected to its highest office a person as singularly outlandish and attention-consuming as our 45th president

published proceedings

  • Marquette Benefits & Social Welfare Law Review

author list (cited authors)

  • Maher, B. S.

complete list of authors

  • Maher, Brendan S

publication date

  • March 2017