Congresswoman Castor's Statement On KidCare's Passage In The State Legislature

Press Release

"Congratulations and thank you to Sen. Nan Rich and Rep. Bill Galvano for all of their hard work to pass this critical KidCare expansion. Now all of the hard work we did in Congress to expand KidCare to an additional 4 million children will be meaningful for Florida's children and families."

Castor advocated for improvement and expansion of the State Children's Health Insurance Program shortly after she took office in 2007, and she joined President Obama at the White House for the bill signing in February. Florida has about 800,000 uninsured children - ranking third in the nation in terms of number of uninsured children. Castor's mother, Betty, a former state education commissioner, worked with former Gov. Chiles on a children's health care program for Florida to enroll kids in a health care plan at the start of the school year. The program was so successful Chiles took the concept to President Clinton, who then launched a national program, known today as SCHIP, or KidCare in Florida.

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