Last week, Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli filed an appeal to the Supreme Court to petition for an expedited review of the U.S. District Court Judge Henry Hudson's ruling that the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA) was unconstitutional. The Obama administration has urged the Supreme Court to deny the request because the appeals courts have already agreed to expedite its review. However, the Supreme Court will vote to consider Cuccinelli's petition during a private conference on April 15. Only four out of the nine justices must vote in favor of review for it to move forward. Experts predict the justices will accept the appeal and hold a hearing as early as July.

Read Attorney General Cuccinelli's petition.

Read Judge Hudson's original opinion.

As the Policy Bulletin has reported in the past several weeks, the National Institutes of Health (NIH) budget is likely to be cut for FY 2011. The Ad Hoc Group for Medical Research has led an online petition urging Congress not to cut the budget, which funds valuable, life-saving research. As of March 25, more than 11,000 patients, scientists, healthcare providers, medical researchers, and others have signed the petition. The petition explains how a decrease in funding for the NIH will have a devastating impact on research, diagnosis, prevention, and treatment of disease and will eliminate quality American jobs. If the current Continuing Resolution is enacted, NIH funding will be cut by $1.6 billion, which reduces the budget below the FY 2010 level.

The petition will remain open for signatures until FY 2011 is resolved.

Read the petition.

Find out more about the Ad Hoc Group for Medical Research.

The Office of the National Coordinator (ONC) requests public comments on the Federal Health IT Strategic Plan: 2011-2015. The plan was updated since its publication in 2008 to reflect the transformations in HIT stimulated by the Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health Act and the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. It emphasizes meaningful use, which "provides an opportunity to bring electronic health information to life in the care of patients and power an information-driven health care system that is capable of never before imagined levels of performance," commented David Blumenthal, the national coordinator for HIT. It also describes how ONC and its federal partners will increase protections to keep health information secure, empower access to EHRs, and improve the assessment of healthcare delivery and payment systems.

The plan aims to guide Congress and the Obama Administration toward an HIT agenda to improve the "quality, efficiency, safety, and patient-centeredness" of healthcare.

The plan will be available for public comment until Friday, April 22.

Read the press release.

View the Federal Health IT Strategic Plan: 2011-2015.

Submit your comments through the Federal Health IT Buzz Blog.

The National Human Genome Research Institute (NHGRI) and the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Development (NICHD) have issued a strategic plan to encourage individuals to submit applications for ethical, legal, and social implications research. The plan includes a section on Genomics and Society that outline four crucial areas of research to pursue: genomic research, genomic healthcare, broader societal issues, and legal, regulatory and public policy issues.

To discuss possible research projects, contact Jean McEwen for genomic research and research policy, Elizabeth Thomson for genomic healthcare and health policy, or Joy Boyer for broader societal issues and social policy.

Read about these research areas and example research topics.

On March 31, the House Committee on Energy and Commerce will hold a markup on the ACA Defunding Bill, which could defund five crucial accounts included in the ACA. This will eliminate funding for:

* State grants to fund health insurance exchanges
* Prevention and Public Health Trust Fund
* Construction and Capital Costs for School-based Health Centers
* Personal Responsibility Education Program
* Development grants for teaching health centers

The bill is expected to be included in the next Continuing Resolution, which must be completed by April 7.

Read the press release from the National Association for Public Hospitals and Health Systems.