MacDill Air Force Base will not receive new KC-46 tankers in the initial roll out, U.S. Rep. Kathy Castor learned today, but Castor was assured by U.S. Air Force Chief of Staff that the Air Mobility mission and KC-135 tankers at MacDill will endure for many years, if not decades. Instead, the candidate bases are located in Oklahoma, North Dakota, Kansas and Washington State – all existing large bases with larger fleets than MacDill. Read more »

U.S. Rep. Kathy Castor said today she is outraged by information that demonstrates Gov. Scott was warned by the state’s top economist that the numbers he was using were wrong relating to the cost of Medicaid expansion. Gov. Scott presented flawed cost estimates to U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius at their meeting yesterday in Washington. Read more »

Gov. Rick Scott and U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius met today to discuss Medicaid expansion and health policy issues in the state of Florida. U.S. Congresswoman Kathy Castor released the following statement: Read more »

U.S. Rep. Kathy Castor voted to keep taxes low for middle-class families and boost economic growth in America. As part of the bill, she voted to reject a pay raise for members of Congress. Read more »

Bill McBride was a leader whose devotion, intelligence and commitment to service knew no bounds. Read more »

U.S. Representative Kathy Castor announced today the award of $500,000 to Hillsborough County public schools for a school-based health center. The grant, which is authorized under the Affordable Care Act, will allow the school district to construct a health center to provide health services to children from economically distressed families in the USF area. Read more »

“ As a parent and an American, my heart goes out to the victims and families in Newtown, Conn. We simply cannot tolerate this type of violence any longer. There is no reason people need access to assault weapons and high-capacity magazines. Commonsense regulation is appropriate. It is time for us as a Congress and as a nation to take swift action. Congress should consider and pass the assault weapons ban this week. Read more »

U.S. Rep. Kathy Castor announced today the award of a $30 million grant for the revitalization of northern downtown Tampa and the Encore redevelopment. Tampa is one of only four communities nationwide to receive a grant today from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s Choice Neighborhood initiative. Read more »

After years of resistance to the Affordable Care Act (“ACA”) by Republican leadership in the State of Florida, U.S. Rep. Kathy Castor announced today that she is buoyed by reports that the state will not oppose an important ACA provision relating to increased reimbursements to primary care physicians treating Medicaid patients – predominately children, seniors and pregnant women. Castor championed this provision for inclusion into the ACA in July 2009 as a member of the Energy & Commerce Committee and has worked to ensure broad-based implementation because of its importance to Florida families and their access to health care. Read more »

Nearly 200,000 Florida seniors and people with disabilities have saved more than $338 million on prescription drugs as a result of the Affordable Care Act, U.S. Rep. Kathy Castor announced today. Data from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services also show that in 2012, almost 200,000 beneficiaries in the Medicare prescription drug coverage gap known as the “doughnut hole” have saved an average of $658. Read more »