Requires the Secretary of Health and Human Services to: (1) conduct and support research concerning high-risk elders, risk and protective factors, fall reduction strategies, fall prevention interventions, diagnosis and treatment of victims, barriers to adopting proven interventions, and the effectiveness of community programs in preventing assisted living and nursing home falls; and (2) award grants to enable organizations to provide professional education for physicians and health professionals in elder fall prevention.
Requires the Secretary, acting through the Director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, to : (1) oversee and support demonstration and research projects to be carried out by the Council to assess the utility of targeted fall risk screening and referral programs and to include programs targeting newly-discharged fall victims at high risk for second falls and private-public partnerships involving home design and remodeling; and (2) provide grants to design and implement fall prevention programs in residential and institutional settings, including a multi-State demonstration project.
Directs the Secretary to review the effects of falls on the costs of the Medicare and Medicaid Programs and the potential for reducing costs by expanding covered services, including a review of reimbursement policies.
[Congressional Bills 107th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 1922 Introduced in Senate (IS)]
107th CONGRESS
2d Session
S. 1922
To direct the Secretary of Health and Human Services to expand and
intensify programs with respect to research and related activities
concerning elder falls.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
February 7, 2002
Mr. Hutchinson (for himself, Ms. Mikulski, and Mr. Enzi) introduced the
following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on
Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To direct the Secretary of Health and Human Services to expand and
intensify programs with respect to research and related activities
concerning elder falls.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Elder Fall Prevention Act of 2002''.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS.
The Congress finds as follows:
(1) Falls are the leading cause of injury deaths among
people over 65.
(2) Sixty percent of fall-related deaths occur among
persons 75 and older.
(3) Twenty-five percent of elderly persons who sustain a
hip fracture die within 1 year.
(4) Hospital admissions for hip fractures among the elderly
have increased from 231,000 admissions in 1988 to 332,000 in
1999. The number of hip fractures is expected to exceed 500,000
by 2040.
(5) The costs to the Medicare and Medicaid programs and
society as a whole from falls by elderly persons continue to
climb much faster than inflation and population growth. Direct
costs alone will exceed $32,000,000,000 in 2020.
(6) The Federal Government should devote additional
resources to research regarding the prevention and treatment of
falls in residential as well as institutional settings.
(7) A national approach to reducing elder falls, which
focuses on the daily life of senior citizens in residential,
institutional, and community settings is needed. The approach
should include a wide range of organizations and individuals
including family members, health care providers, social
workers, architects, employers and others.
(8) Reducing preventable adverse events, such as elder
falls, is an important aspect to the agenda to improve patient
safety.
SEC. 3. PURPOSES.
The purposes of this Act are--
(1) to develop effective public education strategies in a
national initiative to reduce elder falls in order to educate
the elders themselves, family members, employers, caregivers,
and others who touch the lives of senior citizens;
(2) to expand needed services and gain information about
the most effective approaches to preventing and treating elder
falls; and
(3) to require the Secretary of Health and Human Services
to evaluate the effect of falls on the costs of medicare and
medicaid and the potential for reducing costs by expanding
services covered under these two programs.
SEC. 4. PUBLIC EDUCATION.
Subject to the availability of appropriations, the Administration
on Aging within the Department of Health and Human Services shall--
(1) oversee and support a three-year national education
campaign to be carried out by the National Safety Council to be
directed principally to elders, their families, and health care
providers and focusing on ways of reducing the risk of elder
falls and preventing repeat falls; and
(2) provide grants to qualified organizations and
institutions for the purpose of organizing State-level
coalitions of appropriate State and local agencies, safety,
health, senior citizen and other organizations to design and
carry out local education campaigns, focusing on ways of
reducing the risk of elder falls and preventing repeat falls.
SEC. 5. RESEARCH.
(a) In General.--Subject to the availability of appropriations, the
Secretary of Health and Human Services shall--
(1) conduct and support research to--
(A) improve the identification of elders with a
high risk of falls;
(B) improve data collection and analysis to
identify fall risk and protective factors;
(C) improve strategies that are proven to be
effective in reducing subsequent falls by elderly fall
victims;
(D) expand proven interventions to prevent elder
falls;
(E) improve the diagnosis, treatment, and
rehabilitation of elderly fall victims; and
(F) assess the risk of falls occurring in various
settings;
(2) conduct research concerning barriers to the adoption of
proven interventions with respect to the prevention of elder
falls (such as medication review and vision enhancement); and
(3) evaluate the effectiveness of community programs to
prevent assisted living and nursing home falls by elders.
(b) Administration.--In carrying out subsection (a), the Secretary
of Health and Human Services shall--
(1) conduct research and surveillance activities related to
the community-based and populations-based aspects of elder fall
prevention through the Director of the Centers for Disease
Control and Prevention;
(2) conduct research related to elder fall prevention in
health care delivery settings and clinical treatment and
rehabilitation of elderly fall victims through the Director of
the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality; and
(3) ensure the coordination of the activities described in
paragraphs (1) and (2).
(c) Grants.--The Secretary of Health and Human Services shall award
grants to qualified organizations and institutions to enable such
organizations and institutions to provide professional education for
physicians and allied health professionals in elder fall prevention.
SEC. 6. DEMONSTRATION PROJECTS.
Subject to the availability of appropriations, the Secretary of
Health and Human Services, acting through the Director of the Centers
for Disease Control and Prevention and in consultation with the
Director of the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, shall carry
out the following:
(1) Oversee and support demonstration and research projects
to be carried out by the National Safety Council in the
following areas:
(A) A multi-State demonstration project assessing
the utility of targeted fall risk screening and
referral programs.
(B) Programs targeting newly-discharged fall
victims who are at a high risk for second falls, which
shall include, but not be limited to modification
projects for elders with multiple sensory impairments,
video and web-enhanced fall prevention programs for
caregivers in multifamily housing settings, and
development of technology to prevent and detect falls.
(C) Private sector and public-private partnerships,
involving home remodeling, home design and remodeling
(in accordance with accepted building codes and
standards) and nursing home and hospital patient
supervision.
(2)(A) Provide grants to qualified organizations and
institutions to design and carry out fall prevention programs
in residential and institutional settings.
(B) Provide one or more grants to one or more qualified
applicants in order to carry out a multi-State demonstration
project to implement fall prevention programs targeted toward
multi-family residential settings with high concentrations of
elders, including identifying high risk populations, evaluating
residential facilities, conducting screening to identify high
risk individuals, providing pre-fall counseling, coordinating
services with health care and social service providers and
coordinating post-fall treatment and rehabilitation.
(C) Provide one or more grants to qualified applicants to
conduct evaluations of the effectiveness of the demonstration
projects in this section.
SEC. 7. REVIEW OF REIMBURSEMENT POLICIES.
(a) In General.--The Secretary of Health and Human Services shall
undertake a review of the effects of falls on the costs of the Medicare
and Medicaid programs and the potential for reducing costs by expanding
services covered by these two programs. This review shall include a
review of the reimbursement policies of medicare and medicaid in order
to determine if additional fall-related services should be covered or
reimbursement guidelines should be modified.
(b) Report.--Not later than 18 months after the date of the
enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Health and Human Services shall
submit to the Congress a report describing the findings of the
Secretary in conducting the review under subsection (a).
SEC. 8. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATION.
In order to carry out the provisions of this Act, there are
authorized to be appropriated--
(1) to carry out the national public education provisions
described in section 4(1), $5,000,000 for each of fiscal years
2003 through 2005;
(2) to carry out the State public education campaign
provisions of section 4(2), $8,000,000 for each of fiscal years
2003 through 2005;
(3) to carry out research projects described in section 5,
$10,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2003 through 2005; and
(4) to carry out the demonstration projects described in
section 6(1), $7,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2003 through
2005; and
(5) to carry out the demonstration and research projects
described in section 6(2), $8,000,000 for each of fiscal years
2003 through 2005.
<all>
Introduced in Senate
Sponsor introductory remarks on measure. (CR S493)
Read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions. (text of measure as introduced: CR S493-494)
Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Subcommittee on Aging. Hearings held. With printed Hearing: S.Hrg. 107-505.
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