The SAFE Act would help shift Medicare toward earlier intervention and prevention. For beneficiaries who have experienced a fall during the previous year, the legislation would incorporate comprehensive falls-risk assessment and fall-prevention services into the Welcome to Medicare visit and Annual Wellness Visit and expand the role of physical and occupational therapists in delivering these services.
Physical and occupational therapists are uniquely trained to identify many of the factors that contribute to falls, including balance and gait deficits, weakness, mobility limitations, environmental hazards, and challenges with activities of daily living. Giving Medicare beneficiaries greater access to these professionals creates an opportunity to intervene before another fall results in an emergency department visit, hospitalization, fracture, or loss of independence.
This is exactly the type of preventive care Medicare should prioritize.
NARA Members: We Need Your Voice
Please contact your U.S. Representative and Senators and ask them to co-sponsor H.R. 1171 and S. 2612. Tell Congress why falls prevention matters to your patients and share examples of how PT and OT intervention can improve balance, mobility, safety, and independence. Policymakers need to hear directly from rehabilitation providers about the value of addressing fall risk before a serious and costly injury occurs. Ask Congress to support the SAFE Act and make rehabilitation professionals a greater part of Medicare's falls-prevention strategy.
Together, we can help move Medicare from treating the consequences of falls to preventing them in the first place.