Sponsors (9)
The bill would likely reduce veterans' fall-related injuries and improve care quality through mandated assessments, training, research, and pilots, but it raises VA costs, administrative burdens, and risks uneven access or service delays if staffing and implementation fall short.
Veterans across VA care settings (nursing homes, extended care, outpatient) will receive required falls-risk assessments and coordinated prevention services, reducing falls, injuries, and related hospitalizations.
Requiring provider training and licensed physical/occupational therapist involvement will raise quality of care and functional outcomes for veterans receiving long-term and facility-based care.
Funding research on evidence-based falls prevention and piloting home modification programs could expand access to effective interventions and lower long-term care costs for eligible veterans.
Establishing a central office, expanding staffing (including licensed PTs/OTs), mandated technology, and regular training will increase VA operational and administrative costs and could divert funds or raise taxpayer expense.
If the VA cannot recruit sufficient licensed PTs/OTs, veterans may face delays or gaps in required assessments and services, undermining the bill's safety goals.
Additional reporting, pilot evaluation requirements, and a scheduled sunset for a subsection create administrative burden, slow implementation, and introduce uncertainty about long-term continuity of certain provisions.
Based on analysis of 3 sections of legislative text.
Creates a VA Office of Falls Prevention and requires licensed PTs/OTs to conduct falls risk assessments and provide fall-prevention services in VA nursing homes and as an annual extended care service.
Official title: To amend title 38, United States Code, to establish the Office of Falls Prevention of the Department of Veterans Affairs, and for other purposes.
Introduced May 5, 2025 by Nikki Budzinski · Last progress May 5, 2025
Creates a new VA Office of Falls Prevention to lead national efforts to reduce falls among veterans, fund research and education, coordinate home modification programs, and provide technical assistance. It also requires licensed physical or occupational therapists to perform falls risk assessments and deliver fall-prevention services for veterans in VA nursing homes and as an annual extended care service. The bill centralizes oversight and quality improvement for fall prevention across the VA, directs a public education campaign and grant-making to support local outreach, and requires VA research coordination with the National Institute on Aging to develop evidence-based programs tailored to veterans, including those with multiple comorbidities or service-connected disabilities.