U.S. Reps. Kathy Castor (D-FL) and Dave Reichert (R-WA), co-chairs of the U. S. House of Representatives Children’s Health Care Caucus, announced their support for the bipartisan package unveiled yesterday to extend the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) for two years, permanently fix the SGR (Sustainable Growth Rate) formula for Medicare physician payments, and secure critical funding for community health centers. Read more »

Today is Match Day – an annual rite of passage for medical school graduates across the country, including students from University of South Florida’s Morsani College of Medicine, who will learn where they will receive their medical training – or residency – for the next three to seven years.  “I am so proud of our students who are tomorrow’s leaders in health care and medical… Read more »

In response to America’s looming doctor shortage, U.S. Reps. Kathy Castor (D-FL14) and Joe Heck (R-NV3) have filed the bipartisan Creating Access to Residency Education (CARE) Act to boost the number of resident physicians through creative partnerships with health providers. The CARE Act also provides a timely response to two recent studies that highlight the troubling shortage of doctors in training. Read more »

Today, U.S. Rep. Castor filed the Permanent Investment in Health Research Act to remove medical research funding from the political whims of congressional budget battles and place the National Institutes of Health on more certain footing. The legislation was inspired by young researchers at the Moffitt Cancer Center and University of South Florida who have expressed deep concern for the drastic cuts to research grants and their offers of jobs outside the United States. Read more »

Today U.S. Reps. Kathy Castor (D-Tampa/St. Petersburg, FL) and Energy and Commerce Chairman Emeritus Joe Barton (R-TX) introduced the bipartisan Advancing Care for Exceptional (ACE) Kids Act to improve the coordination of care for children with complex medical needs, while containing costs. The “medical home” model is based upon an innovative clinic started at St. Joseph’s Children’s Hospital in Tampa 14 years ago. A Senate companion will also be introduced and Florida Senator Bill Nelson is an original cosponsor. Read more »

U.S. Rep. Kathy Castor sent the attached letter today to U.S. HHS Secretary Sylvia Burwell urging rigorous federal oversight of the State of Florida’s egregious, systematic failures to provide adequate health services to children enrolled in Medicaid. Last week, a U.S. Federal District Court ruled that Florida knowingly denied access to medical care to children enrolled in Medicaid in violation of federal law. U.S. Rep. Castor also criticizes Florida Gov. Rick Scott’s decision to squander millions of taxpayer dollars on lawyers to fight the ruling rather than spend the money on essential health services to children. Read more »

U.S. Rep. Kathy Castor announced that the 2015 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), which passed the U.S. House of Representatives today, includes a pay increase for servicemembers, important new investments for special operations, authorizes replacement of the Air Force’s KC-135 tankers with new KC-46 aerial refueling tankers, and provides significant polices for MacDill Air Force… Read more »

U.S. Rep. Kathy Castor (D-Tampa/St. Petersburg, FL) announced today that the University of South Florida received the largest “navigator” grant in the nation from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services to assist families and consumers shop and enroll in the health insurance marketplace. Read more »

Citing statistics they called alarming, health officials urged Pinellas County parents to vaccinate their children against the sometimes deadly human papilloma virus, or HPV. Read more »

U.S. Rep. Kathy Castor (D-Tampa/St. Petersburg, FL) announced today that two Tampa Bay organizations are recipients of Healthy Start grants for a five-year cycle to fund initiatives that reduce infant mortality rates in Tampa and South St. Petersburg. Read more »