I 
110TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 4897 
To amend the Social Security Act and the Public Health Service Act to 
improve elderly suicide early intervention and prevention strategies, and 
for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
DECEMBER 19, 2007 
Ms. HOOLEY (for herself, Mr. TIM MURPHY of Pennsylvania, Ms. DELAURO, 
Mrs. JONES of Ohio, Mr. KENNEDY, Mr. KLEIN of Florida, Mrs. MCCAR-
THY of New York, Ms. MATSUI, Mr. RAMSTAD, and Mr. WYNN) intro-
duced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Energy 
and Commerce, and in addition to the Committee on Ways and Means, 
for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case 
for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the 
committee concerned 
A BILL 
To amend the Social Security Act and the Public Health 
Service Act to improve elderly suicide early intervention 
and prevention strategies, and for other purposes. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Stop Senior Suicide 
Act’’. 
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SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 
Congress makes the following findings: 
(1) The rate of suicide among older adults is 
higher than that for any other age group, and the 
suicide rate for individuals 85 years of age and older 
is the highest of all. In 2004, 6,860 older Americans 
(age 60 and older) died by suicide (Centers for Dis-
ease Control and Prevention, 2007). 
(2) In 2004, the elderly (age 65 and older) 
made up only 12.4 percent of the population but ac-
counted for 16 percent of all suicides. 
(3) According to the Centers for Disease Con-
trol and Prevention, from 1980 to 1992, the suicide 
rate rose 9 percent for Americans 65 years of age 
and above, and rose 35 percent for men and women 
ages 80 to 84. 
(4) Older adults have a considerably higher rate 
of completed suicide than other groups. While for all 
age groups combined there is one suicide for every 
20 attempts, there is one suicide for every 4 at-
tempts among those 65 years of age and older. 
(5) Of the nearly 35,000,000 Americans age 65 
and older, it is estimated that 2,000,000 have a de-
pressive illness and another 5,000,000 suffer from 
depressive symptoms and syndromes that fall short 
of meeting full diagnostic criteria for a disorder 
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(Mental Health: A Report of the Surgeon General, 
1999). 
(6) Seniors covered by Medicare are required to 
pay a 50 percent co-pay for outpatient mental health 
services while they are only required to pay a 20 
percent co-pay for physical health services. 
(7) It is estimated that 20 percent of older 
adults who complete suicide visited a physician with-
in the prior 24 hours, 41 percent within the past 
week, and 75 percent within the past month (Sur-
geon General’s Call to Action to Prevent Suicide, 
1999). 
(8) A substantial proportion of older patients 
receive no treatment or inadequate treatment for 
their depression in primary care settings (National 
Institutes of Health Consensus Development Panel 
on Depression in Late Life, 1992; Lebowitz et al., 
1997). 
(9) Suicide in older adults is most associated 
with late-onset depression. Among patients 75 years 
of age and older, 60 to 75 percent of suicides have 
diagnosable depression (Mental Health: A Report of 
the Surgeon General, 1999). 
(10) Research suggests that many seniors re-
ceive mental health assistance from their primary 
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