HB1171, the SAFE Act, would amend Medicare law to expand who may furnish certain preventive services during an annual wellness visit and initial preventive physical examination. Specifically, it would allow physical therapists and occupational therapists to provide a separate falls risk assessment and fall prevention services for Medicare beneficiaries who have been determined by a physician to have fallen in the previous calendar year. It also adds a related falls-prevention component to the annual wellness visit requirements for those individuals.
The bill further amends the initial preventive physical examination benefit so that, for a beneficiary who has experienced a fall in the prior year, outpatient occupational therapy and outpatient physical therapy services may be included. These changes would take effect for services furnished on or after January 1, 2026. In addition, the bill requires the Secretary of Health and Human Services to submit annual reports to Congress beginning in 2027 on falls among people age 65 and older who received treatment for pain or injury related to a fall, with year-to-year updates included in later reports.
Impact
The bill would modify sections of Title XVIII of the Social Security Act governing Medicare preventive benefits, expanding the statutory role of physical therapists and occupational therapists in annual wellness visits and initial preventive physical examinations. It would create a new Medicare-covered falls risk assessment and fall prevention service pathway for certain beneficiaries with a documented fall history, and it would direct HHS to produce recurring congressional reports using CDC fall data for older adults. The practical effect would be to broaden preventive and rehabilitative access for Medicare beneficiaries age 65 and older, while adding administrative reporting obligations for HHS.
Sentiment
Based on the bill text and available context, the measure appears to be framed positively as a falls-prevention and elder-safety initiative, with bipartisan sponsorship from Mrs. Miller and Ms. Stansbury. There is no recorded committee debate or vote history in the provided materials, so no formal opposition or support can be measured from proceedings. The title and structure suggest a public-health-oriented bill intended to reduce falls, injuries, and related costs among older adults.
Contention
No committee transcripts or votes are available, so specific points of contention are not documented in the provided record. Potential areas of debate, if raised later, would likely involve whether Medicare should explicitly expand preventive-service roles for physical and occupational therapists, whether the new benefits could increase program costs, and how physicians’ determinations of a prior fall would be operationalized. Another possible issue is the reporting mandate to Congress, which could be viewed as useful oversight or as an added administrative burden.
A bill to amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to provide for certain cognitive impairment detection in the Medicare annual wellness visit and initial preventative physical examination.
To amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to provide for certain cognitive impairment detection in the Medicare annual wellness visit and initial preventive physical examination.
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