On Thursday, Cato will host a book forum for Medicare Meets Mephistopheles, a new book by Cato adjunct scholar David Hyman. Medicare Meets Mephistopheles takes a satirical look at the crown jewel of President Lyndon Johnson’s Great Society.

Hyman is a rising star in the field of health law and policy. A lawyer and a doctor, he is professor of law and medicine at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. In 2004, he was the lead author of Improving Health Care: A Dose of Competition, the first joint report by the Federal Trade Commission and the Department of Justice. This year, he guest-edited an issue of the Journal of Health Policy, Politics and Law devoted to that report. Prof. Hyman also has a habit of quoting Austin Powers in his law review articles.

Ted Marmor, one of Medicare’s leading advocates, will comment, as will Robin Wilson, a visiting professor of law at Washington & Lee University.

The forum will be held at noon this Thursday at the Cato Institute, and will be followed by a luncheon. Other details, including how to preregister, are available here.