H.R. 1171 — SAFE Act

This section establishes the short title of the Act as the “Stopping Addiction and Falls for the Elderly Act” or the “SAFE Act.”

This section expands Medicare coverage in two preventive care benefits for beneficiaries who have fallen in the previous calendar year, effective for services furnished on or after January 1, 2026. It amends the annual wellness visit under section 1861(hhh) of the Social Security Act to require that, for an individual determined by a physician to have fallen in the previous calendar year, the visit include a falls risk assessment and fall prevention services, and it authorizes a physical therapist or occupational therapist to furnish a separate falls risk assessment and fall prevention services. It also amends the initial preventive physical examination under section 1861(ww)(2) to include outpatient occupational therapy services and outpatient physical therapy services for an individual determined by a physician to have experienced a fall in the previous calendar year.

This section directs the Secretary of Health and Human Services, beginning January 1, 2027, and annually thereafter, to submit to Congress a report on the number of falls reported by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention among individuals aged 65 and older who received treatment for pain or injury related to a fall in the previous calendar year. It also requires each subsequent report to include the data reported in prior years and describe year-to-year changes.