Activists keep pressure on Sen. Bill Nelson over 'public option' health care plan

Health care activists in Florida have been organizing phone calls to Sen. Bill Nelson, urging him to support a government-run health insurance plan.

Last week, Nelson voted for a public plan in the Finance Committee (it failed) but some hope the idea will become part of the broader negotiations as the House and Senate work to fashion a single plan.

"Nelson voting right on the Schumer Amendment is a good start and the first indication he may vote right, but he needs to be pushed further. This is a pivotal point in this campaign!!!!" reads an e-mail distributed by the Florida Consumer Action Network.

FCAN is also urging people to call Rep. Kathy Castor and get her to oppose a proposed tax on some health care plans. "This tax ... will hurt middle-class families and older workers who have more health care needs."

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In D.C., Florida fears over health care reform

Health care reform is supposed to address a badly flawed system, but Florida hospital and insurance executives sounded widespread concern about the proposals in a meeting this morning with the congressional delegation.

The executives said they fear safety net hospitals, like Jackson Memorial in Miami, would lose tens of millions, and said there is not enough to address a doctor shortage or long-term care needs.

"It is full of unintended consequences," said Michael Schlossberg with the Broward Association of Health Underwriters.

Dr. Eneida Roldan, president and CEO of Jackson Health System, said proposed cuts for disproportionate share hospitals would have devastating effect. Florida already ranks 44th in per capita funding despite having some of the most pressing needs. Jackson stands to lose $81 million in Medicaid funding and $43 million in Medicare, she said.

After rage, U.S. Rep. Kathy Castor seeks a different kind of town hall on health care

A week after pushing, shoving and name calling erupted at her Tampa town hall on health care, Congresswoman Kathy Castor is trying it again. This time, though, she is ensured a more controlled setting.

She will use telephone conferencing, a platform Democrats are increasingly using nationwide to avoid the confrontational gatherings that are all over the news.

Castor, who has held "tele-town halls" before, will be available at 6:30 p.m. Call 1-877-229-8493 or 1-877- 269-7289. PIN: 13964. (Below: What's the deal with this photo? Click here to find out.)

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Mayhem, amid protesters at Kathy Castor, Betty Reed town hall meet

Pity the many Tampa Bay TV, radio and print radio reporters who showed up to cover a nuanced discussion of health care reform options at a town hall meeting headlined by state Rep. Betty Reed and U.S. Rep. Kathy Castor. Instead they had to make do with covering total mayhem, as hundreds of protesters turned the event into a near riot. Here are a couple video clips. And that high quality camera work? You're welcome.

Castor's 'pleasant persistence' on health care

WASHINGTON — Midnight approached and the lawmakers were still debating. Back and forth it went over the role of government in health care.

U.S. Rep. Kathy Castor stood out for not standing out. Head down, she focused on the mountain before her — the 1,000-plus pages that make up America's Affordable Health Choices Act. But when the meeting finally broke, Castor had added an amendment to the draft to increase funding for trauma centers like those in her hometown of Tampa.

While the struggle over the most complex changes to health care in a generation continues, Castor has been using what she calls a "pleasant persistence" to push for a number of Florida-driven provisions, including one to address the state's doctor shortage. (story here)

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Castor pushing Cuba changes

Rep. Kathy Castor, D-Tampa, is hailing a provision in a huge spending bill the U.S. House is scheduled to pass Wednesday that will lift President Bush's restrictions on family travel and remittances to Cuba.

The measure would allow Cuban-Americans to visit family back in Cuba every year, rather than once every three years as decreed by the Bush administration in 2004. It also would ease Bush's restrictions on sending food, money and medicine to Cuban relatives. The provision would not affect the underlying trade and travel embargo against Cuba.

“Many of our neighbors are barred from visiting their sick and dying loved ones because of these burdensome restrictions,” Castor said. “Loosening the restrictions will allow family members to travel during times of personal crisis.”

Castor, Boyd on Air Force 1

U.S. Reps. Kathy Castor, D-Tampa, Allen Boyd, D-Monticello, and Kendrick Meek, D-Miami, will be joining President Obama on Air Force 1 when he flies to Fort Myers for a town-hall meeting tomorrow to sell the economic stimulus plan. (Gov. Charlie Crist will be introducing Obama at the event).

Boyd and other members of the Blue Dogs, a group of fiscally conservative Democrats in the House, will also be meeting with Obama at the White House Tuesday.

Tag: Castor's it

Chalk this one up to paying some dues, and maybe stockpiling some chits: Rep. Kathy Castor, D-Tampa, has been named to the House Ethics Committee.

The Ethics Committee pre-approves members' trips and the likes, and also investigates and rules on ethics complaints of their colleagues. It's not a popular committee, because serving on it (provided it's done right) often requires members to slap the wrists or embarass political allies and friends.

For instance, the committee is currently investigating ethics complaints filed against Rep. Charlie Rangel, D-N.Y., the powerful chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee, which oversees tax policy, Social Security and the like. No fun getting on his bad side.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi chose Castor to be one of four Democrats on the bipartisan committee. But Castor, who just started her second term, can't complain too much -- Pelosi also has appointed her the House Steering and Policy Committee, a leadership post that allows her to help choose other committee chairs and chart policy.

Castor to Obama: Lift Bush Cuba restrictions

U.S. Rep. Kathy Castor, D-Tampa, wants the incoming Obama adminsitration to reverse the Bush administration's tough restrictions on family travel and remittances to Cuba.

Under an executive order signed by President Bush, Cuban-Americans are permitted to travel to Cuba to visit close relatives only once every three years. They also may send relatives no more than $300 a year.

"The current restrictions ... bring hardship to the people of Cuba and their family members here in America, many of whom live in my home state of Florida and are my neighbors here in Tampa Bay," Castor wrote Obama in a letter dated today. "The restrictions have proven ineffective in altering the political situation and interfere with fundamental family relations and human rights."

She wrote that relatives in the United States have a hard time visiting sick or dying relatives in Cuba because of "bureaucratic red tape." While the brutal Castro regime should be punished, she wrote, "we cannot allow our policies to bring more hardship to those we intend to help."

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Castor switches committees, aims at health care

U.S. Rep. Kathy Castor of Tampa will say goodbye to her seats on two influential House committees to join the panel tasked with shepherding President-elect Obama's health care plan through Congress.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi announced today that Castor, a Democrat, will join the wide-ranging Committee on Energy and Commerce, which has jurisidiction over environmental regulations, gas mileage standards, telecommunications, consumer protection and health-related agencies like the Food and Drug Administration and the National Institutes of Health.

"I've wanted to be directly involved with crafting health care policy," Castor tells Buzz. "That's one of the reasons I ran for Congress, and we're at a real turning point with the new Obama administration.

"I think everyone is recognizing now that (with) our economic crisis, one of the answers has to be that we solve the health care problem for families."