Sponsors (3)
The bill standardizes and expands fall-risk screening, prevention services, training, research, and home-modification pilots to reduce veteran injuries and improve care, while increasing near-term VA and federal costs, administrative burden, and some short-term resource strains and funding uncertainty.
Veterans across the VHA will receive standardized fall-risk screening and prevention services, which should reduce fall-related injuries and hospitalizations.
Veterans in VA nursing homes and extended-care programs will receive annual PT/OT assessments and ongoing fall-prevention services, improving mobility monitoring and early detection of risk.
Providing PT/OT fall-prevention services can lower downstream medical costs for veterans and taxpayers by preventing injuries, emergency care, and longer hospital stays.
Creating a new VA office, grant programs, and expanded services will increase federal spending, which could raise costs for taxpayers or require reallocations within the VA budget.
Implementing required PT/OT assessments, training, equipment, and home-modification initiatives may raise short-term VA staffing and operational costs and require contracting or procurement.
VA nursing homes with limited PT/OT capacity could face scheduling delays or reduced access to other therapy services as resources are reallocated to meet new fall-prevention requirements.
Based on analysis of 3 sections of legislative text.
Creates a VA Office of Falls Prevention and requires falls-risk assessments and PT/OT fall-prevention services in VA nursing home and extended care settings.
Official title: Amend title 38, United States Code, to establish the Office of Falls Prevention of the Department of Veterans Affairs, and for other purposes.
Introduced February 20, 2025 by Angus Stanley King · Last progress February 20, 2025
Creates an Office of Falls Prevention within the Veterans Health Administration to lead, standardize, and coordinate falls-prevention services, education, research linkages, and quality improvement for veterans. Requires falls-risk assessment and provision of fall-prevention services by licensed physical or occupational therapists for veterans in VA nursing home and extended care settings, and sets a termination date (Sept 30, 2028) for one existing provision in law.