Health
Darren will fight to protect Medicare, Social Security and Medicaid for our seniors and our persons with disabilities to safeguard healthcare and financial security for the most vulnerable among us. Our seniors have paid into these programs their entire lives and have earned these benefits. Our disabled and their families need our help to give them a reasonable quality of life.
Darren also supports the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, which reaffirms his belief that healthcare is a right for all Americans. This important legislation protects all Americans with pre-existing conditions, keeps all young people on their parents' health insurance until age 26, and protects all Americans from going broke if they get sick by prohibiting lifetime caps.
Florida's healthcare exchange has provided over 1.3 million Floridians with health insurance and is the largest federal exchange in the county. Floridians also received more healthcare subsidies than any other state.
Darren is open to improving or replacing the Act as long as the same number of people remain covered at the same or lower cost. However, Darren will oppose any repeal of the Act without replacement, since it would hurt countless Floridians and be catastrophic to our healthcare system.
Selected bills on healthcare co-sponsored by Congressman Soto:
H.R. 508 - Seniors Have Eyes, Ear, and Teeth Act of 2017 - to expand Medicare coverage to include eyeglasses, hearing aids, and dental care.
H.R. 165 - Restoring the Partnership for County Health Care Costs Act of 2017 - allow, an otherwise eligible individual under Title XVI, to receive SSI, Medicare, Medicaid or CHIP benefits.
H.R. 173 - Middle Class Health Benefits Tax Repeal Act of 2017 - repeal the excise tax on employer-sponsored health care coverage for which there is an excess benefit (high-cost plans).
H.R. 166 - Outpatient Mental Health Modernization Act of 2017 - stabilize and modernize the provision of partial hospitalization services under the Medicare Program, and for other purposes.
More on Health
WASHINGTON, D.C. - Congressman Darren Soto (FL-09) introduced the Helping Adults Protect Immunity Act (HAPI) Act to ensure more Americans can receive necessary vaccines, including any future COVID-19 vaccine, at no out-of-pocket cost.
KISSIMMEE, FL - Today, Congressman Darren Soto (FL-09) led Members of the Florida Congressional Delegation in sending a letter to Governor Ron DeSantis requesting he immediately release the remaining CARES Act federal dollars in the Coronavirus Relief Funds (CRF) to all Florida counties, cities and towns. The letter comes after Osceola County reported it is waiting on $50 million in CRF. The State of Florida is currently holding millions in CARES Act funds which should be transferred to Osceola and other counties and cities with under 500,000 residents.
WASHINGTON –– Rep. Darren Soto (FL-09) joined Rep. Elissa Slotkin (MI-08) and a bipartisan group of lawmakers in introducing the Strengthening America’s Strategic National Stockpile Act, a major bipartisan package the House will consider to begin reducing America’s dependence on foreign sources of critical medical supplies the country needs to fight COVID-19, boost domestic manufacturing to make those supplies here in America, and make much-needed improvements and updates to America’s Strategic National Stockpile (SNS).
ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. — Lawmakers are pushing for an expedited resupply of the drug Remdesivir that has been successful in treating COVID-19 patients.
Doctors across the region have said the medication, which was once used to treat Ebola, is helping them manage the increase in patients because it’s a treatment opportunity and shortening hospital stays.
Today, Rep. Darren Soto (FL-09) voted to pass the historic Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security (CARES) Act, which will now go to the President’s desk for a signature.
Rep. Soto gave the following remarks on the House floor:
“Mr. Speaker, as I rise here today, the United States has more coronavirus cases than any nation on the planet. This is an unprecedented crisis that requires an unprecedented response. This bipartisan bill is a promise that help is on the way.
Today, Reps. Darren Soto (D-FL) and Ted S. Yoho (R-FL) introduced the bipartisan American-Made Protection for Healthcare Workers and First Responders Act to ensure the United States builds its stockpile of Personal Protective Equipment (PPE). This bill is a House companion bill to Senator Rick Scott’s introduced in the Senate with the same title.
As we face this monumental coronavirus crisis, House Democrats are prioritizing families first in our coronavirus relief efforts.
Rep. Darren Soto (FL-09) voted to pass the Families First Coronavirus Response Act, a bill to bolster the federal government’s response to the coronavirus outbreak and address the severe impacts of the coronavirus on Central Floridians’ personal safety and financial security.
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, Rep. Darren Soto (FL-09) celebrated the more than 400 bills, including more than 275 bipartisan bills still awaiting action in the GOP-controlled Senate, passed by the Democratic House Majority over the past year.
Right now, there are dozens of patients — U.S. citizens — in New Zealand hospitals who are fighting the clock. They have only a few weeks to recover and get home to the tiny island of American Samoa, a U.S. territory in the South Pacific.