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Strikes existing subsection (d) of 38 U.S.C. 1710A and inserts a new subsection (d) requiring that, for individuals determined by a physician to have fallen or been at risk of falling during the previous one-year period, a licensed physical therapist or licensed occupational therapist conduct a falls risk assessment and provide fall prevention services during the individual's nursing home stay; also adds subsection (e) terminating subsection (a) on September 30, 2028.
Amends 38 U.S.C. 1710B(a) by adding a new paragraph (7) requiring the conduct of an annual falls risk assessment and the provision of fall prevention services by a licensed physical therapist or licensed occupational therapist.
Inserts a new section 7310B into chapter 73 of title 38 to establish an Office of Falls Prevention within the Veterans Health Administration, define its location, leadership (Chief Officer of Falls Prevention), reporting relationship, staffing/support, functions, public education campaign and grant authority, research responsibilities (including coordination with the VA Office of Research and Development and the National Institute on Aging), a joint subject matter expert panel, and coordination with home modification programs under sections 1717 and 2101 of title 38.
Amends section 203(c) of the Older Americans Act (42 U.S.C. 3013(c)) to expand the Interagency Coordinating Committee on Healthy Aging and Age-Friendly Communities by inserting additional text in paragraph (2) and in the matter preceding subparagraph (A) of paragraph (7).
Creates a new Office of Falls Prevention within the Veterans Health Administration to lead and coordinate clinical care, research, education, quality improvement, and related reporting on preventing falls among veterans. It requires establishment of leadership and staff, issuance of safe patient-handling directives, a pilot study on home modifications, a national education campaign, and research collaboration with the National Institute on Aging. Requires licensed physical or occupational therapists to perform falls risk assessments and provide fall-prevention services for veterans who have fallen or been at risk in the past year while in VA nursing homes, and requires annual falls risk assessments and services for veterans receiving extended care; the nursing-home assessment requirement in one subsection sunsets on September 30, 2028.
Establish the Office of Falls Prevention within the Veterans Health Administration (new section 7310B in title 38).
Locate the Office at the Central Office of the Department of Veterans Affairs.
Create the position of Chief Officer of Falls Prevention who is the head of the Office and report to the Under Secretary for Health.
Under Secretary for Health must provide necessary staff and other support for the Office to carry out its functions.
Allow the Under Secretary for Health to reorganize existing VHA offices to avoid duplication with the Office's functions.
Who is affected and how:
Potential benefits and burdens:
Time limits and sunset: One clinical trigger provision terminates September 30, 2028, which creates a near-term implementation window for the PT/OT assessment requirement tied to prior falls.
Read twice and referred to the Committee on Veterans' Affairs.
Introduced February 20, 2025 by Angus Stanley King · Last progress February 20, 2025
Expand sections to see detailed analysis
Committee on Veterans' Affairs. Hearings held.
Read twice and referred to the Committee on Veterans' Affairs.
Introduced in Senate