I
107TH CONGRESS
2D SESSION
H. R. 3695
To direct the Secretary of Health and Human Services to expand and inten-
sify programs with respect to research and related activities concerning
elder falls.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
FEBRUARY 7, 2002
Mr. PALLONE introduced the following bill; which was referred to the
Committee on Energy and Commerce
A BILL
To direct the Secretary of Health and Human Services to
expand and intensify programs with respect to research
and related activities concerning elder falls.
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 ‘‘Elder Fall Prevention
Act of 2002’’.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS.
The Congress finds as follows:
(1) Falls are the leading cause of injury deaths
among people over 65.
(2) Sixty percent of fall-related deaths occur
among persons 75 and older.
(3) Twenty-five percent of elderly persons who
sustain a hip fracture die within 1 year.
(4) Hospital admissions for hip fractures
among the elderly have increased from 231,000 ad-
missions in 1988 to 332,000 in 1999. The number
of hip fractures is expected to exceed 500,000 by
2040.
(5) The costs to the Medicare and Medicaid
programs and society as a whole from falls by elder-
ly persons continue to climb much faster than infla-
tion and population growth. Direct costs alone will
exceed $32,000,000,000 in 2020.
(6) The Federal Government should devote ad-
ditional resources to research regarding the preven-
tion and treatment of falls in residential as well as
institutional settings.
(7) A national approach to reducing elder falls,
which focuses on the daily life of senior citizens in
residential, institutional, and community settings is
needed. The approach should include a wide range
of organizations and individuals including family
members, health care providers, social workers, ar-
chitects, employers and others.
(8) Reducing preventable adverse events, such
as elder falls, is an important aspect to the agenda
to improve patient safety.
SEC. 3. PURPOSES.
The purposes of this Act are—
(1) to develop effective public education strate-
gies in a national initiative to reduce elder falls in
order to educate the elders themselves, family mem-
bers, employers, caregivers, and others who touch
the lives of senior citizens;
(2) to expand needed services and gain informa-
tion about the most effective approaches to pre-
venting and treating elder falls; and
(3) to require the Secretary of Health and
Human Services to evaluate the effect of falls on the
costs of medicare and medicaid and the potential for
reducing costs by expanding services covered under
these two programs.
SEC. 4. PUBLIC EDUCATION.
Subject to the availability of appropriations, the Ad-
ministration on Aging within the Department of Health
and Human Services shall—
(1) oversee and support a three-year national
education campaign to be carried out by the Na-
tional Safety Council to be directed principally to el-
ders, their families, and health care providers and
focusing on ways of reducing the risk of elder falls
and preventing repeat falls; and
(2) provide grants to qualified organizations
and institutions for the purpose of organizing State-
level coalitions of appropriate State and local agen-
cies, safety, health, senior citizen and other organi-
zations to design and carry out local education cam-
paigns, focusing on ways of reducing the risk of
elder falls and preventing repeat falls.
SEC. 5. RESEARCH.
(a) IN GENERAL.—Subject to the availability of ap-
propriations, the Secretary of Health and Human Services
shall—
(1) conduct and support research to—
(A) improve the identification of elders
with a high risk of falls;
(B) improve data collection and analysis to
identify fall risk and protective factors;
(C) improve strategies that are proven to
be effective in reducing subsequent falls by el-
derly fall victims;
(D) expand proven interventions to prevent
elder falls;
(E) improve the diagnosis, treatment, and
rehabilitation of elderly fall victims; and
(F) assess the risk of falls occurring in
various settings;
(2) conduct research concerning barriers to the
adoption of proven interventions with respect to the
prevention of elder falls (such as medication review
and vision enhancement); and
(3) evaluate the effectiveness of community pro-
grams to prevent assisted living and nursing home
falls by elders.
(b) ADMINISTRATION.—In carrying out subsection
(a), the Secretary of Health and Human Services shall—
(1) conduct research and surveillance activities
related to the community-based and populations-
based aspects of elder fall prevention through the
Director of the Centers for Disease Control and Pre-
vention;
(2) conduct research related to elder fall pre-
vention in health care delivery settings and clinical
treatment and rehabilitation of elderly fall victims
through the Director of the Agency for Healthcare
Research and Quality; and
(3) ensure the coordination of the activities de-
scribed in paragraphs (1) and (2).