WASHINGTON, DC –
U.S. Senator Benjamin L. Cardin (D-MD) was presented with the National Association of Psychiatric Health Systems (NAPHS) Presidential Award for his longstanding leadership and firm commitment to working for those with serious mental illnesses.
  Senator Cardin received the award at the NAPHS Annual Meeting in Washington, DC earlier this week.

“I am proud to be recognized by NAPHS, which has advocated for effective behavioral health treatment and prevention programs for 75 years,” said
Senator Cardin. “We share a common goal that mental disorders be recognized under the law like physical illnesses. Patients deserve parity in treatment and mental health professionals deserve to be reimbursed at the same rates as those who treat physical illnesses.”

NAPHS advocates for behavioral health and represents provider systems that are committed to the delivery of responsive, accountable, and clinically effective prevention, treatment, and care for children, adolescents, adults, and older adults with mental and substance use disorders.

Senator Cardin is a long time advocate for mental health parity, and was an original co-sponsor of legislation to end the discriminatory treatment of mental health services by private insurance companies that passed through the Senate late last year.
  As a member of the Senate Budget Committee, he has been a leader in the push for greater resources for the National Institutes of Health, particularly the National Institute of Mental Health and the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke.