Republican Vern Buchanan and Democrat Margaret Good both burnished their health care resumes in advance of a Congressional showdown next year.

U.S. Rep. Buchanan, R-Sarasota, picked up the Hospice Champion Award, something he characterized as a pleasant surprise. The honor came as Buchanan pushes legislation in the House aimed at improving drug pricing transparency, senior assistance with insurance and an expansion of mental health resources.

Buchanan also held a roundtable at Tidewell Hospice as he accepted the award, and said afterward he would help important causes to the organization, like streamlining auditing and improving support for veteran services.

“End-of-life organizations like this make a big difference,” he said, “and then we have Hospice providers all over the state and country.”

State Rep. Good, D-Sarasota, traveled to Orlando to pick up an honor of her own—a Champion of the Elderly Award from the Florida Health Care Association.

She took the honor in part for advancing legislation this year that could improve licensing and oversight requirements for senior assisted living facilities. The bill won unanimous support in the House this session, and Good feels confident the Senate will take up the bill next year.

“I worked with a number of stakeholders and will work with them again to modernize assisted living facilities statutes,” she said. “We have 32 facilities in my district and a large number of really wonderful seniors.”

Good announced she plans to challenge Buchanan next year for his Congressional seat. 

That both candidates devoted their legislative energies this year shows the significance to the issue in the race and to the region.

Notably, both candidates stressed that any potential success in passing legislation will come from an ability to work in a bipartisan fashion.