Washington, D.C. –The American Health Care Association and National Center for Assisted Living (AHCA/NCAL) today awarded Senator Ben Cardin (D-Md.) with the “Leading Light of Long Term Care Award.” The association periodically gives this award to policymakers who demonstrate leadership by seeking positive solutions for the seniors and individuals with disability who rely on long term care.
“Senator Cardin is not only a health care expert on Capitol Hill, he truly understands the issues we deal with in long term care,” said AHCA/NCAL President and CEO Mark Parkinson. “The permanent therapy cap solution would have never become law without his leadership, and we thank him for being a champion for the millions we serve.”
Senator Cardin was a long-time advocate of finding a permanent solution to the therapy caps exception process. From his days in the House of Representatives in the early 2000s, he routinely introduced legislation to permanently end therapy caps, and worked tirelessly to get similar language in larger health and budget legislation. That problem was fixed earlier this year in the Bipartisan Budget Act, which repealed Medicare Part B outpatient therapy caps retroactively to January 1, 2018.
“Rehabilitation therapies are critical to helping millions of Americans recover from injuries and debilitating illnesses," said Senator Cardin, a member of the Finance Committee. “Now that the arbitrary therapy caps have been repealed, long-term care facilities will be able to provide seniors the necessary services to help them resume their normal lives without running into roadblocks. The work that AHCA and NCAL members do every day to improve the lives of millions of seniors and individuals with disabilities is essential and will not be hindered anymore.”