PlainBillCongress, translated.Legislation. Context. Public interest.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.
Congressional Research Service
Version 00 · Introduced in House · Feb 10, 2025
Stopping Addiction and Falls for the Elderly Act or the SAFE Act
This bill incorporates risk assessments and prevention services for falls into annual wellness visits and initial preventive physical exams under Medicare, as well as associated services provided by physical therapists and occupational therapists.
People & committees
Rep. Miller, Carol D. [R-WV-1] · R–WV
Legislative record
A procedural vote is different from passage. Passage in one chamber does not establish enactment. Explore the glossary.
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.
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.
Introduced in House
Introduced in House
Primary sources
Text links open the official source. We also preserved the text version used in the PlainBill explanation below.
Source last updated: Oct 10, 2026. Consult Congress.gov for the current record.
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PlainBill explanation
Based on the full Introduced in House · 2025-02-10 text. This explanation has not received human editorial review. This overview describes the proposal’s major provisions; it does not establish what its real-world effects would be.
The bill would add fall-risk assessments and fall-prevention services to Medicare annual wellness visits for people whose physician determines they fell during the previous calendar year. For people meeting that condition, it would also add outpatient occupational and physical therapy services to Medicare’s initial preventive physical examination. These are proposed changes; the supplied evidence does not establish that they became law.
Physical therapy and occupational therapy benefit in the Medicare annual wellness visit and initial preventive physical exam
in the case of an individual who has been determined by a physician to have fallen in the previous calendar year, includes a falls risk assessment and fall prevention services.
In the case of an individual that has been determined by a physician to have experienced a fall in the previous calendar year, outpatient occupational therapy services (as defined in subsection (g)) and outpatient physical therapy services (as defined in subsection (p)).
2025-02-10: Introduced in House
Section 1 names the proposal the Stopping Addiction and Falls for the Elderly Act, or SAFE Act.
This Act may be cited as the Stopping Addiction and Falls for the Elderly Act or the SAFE Act.
The annual wellness visit change would require an assessment of the person's risk of falling and fall-prevention services when a physician has determined that the person fell in the previous calendar year.
that, in the case of an individual who has been determined by a physician to have fallen in the previous calendar year, includes a falls risk assessment and fall prevention services.
For those patients, the bill would add physical therapists and occupational therapists to the annual wellness visit provision when they furnish a separate fall-risk assessment and fall-prevention services.
in the case of an individual described in paragraph (1)(C), a physical therapist or an occupational therapist furnishing a separate falls risk assessment and fall prevention services.
The initial preventive examination change would add outpatient occupational and physical therapy services for people whose physician determines they fell in the previous calendar year. The bill refers to existing statutory definitions of those services rather than reproducing them.
Initial preventive physical examination
In the case of an individual that has been determined by a physician to have experienced a fall in the previous calendar year, outpatient occupational therapy services (as defined in subsection (g)) and outpatient physical therapy services (as defined in subsection (p)).
Both proposed benefit changes would apply to the relevant visits or examinations furnished on or after January 1, 2026. This proposed start date does not establish that the changes took effect.
The amendment made by paragraph (1) shall apply to annual wellness visits furnished on or after January 1, 2026.
The amendment made by paragraph (1) shall apply to initial preventive physical examinations furnished on or after January 1, 2026.
Beginning January 1, 2027, the Secretary of Health and Human Services would have to report to Congress annually on falls reported by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention among people aged 65 or older who received treatment for pain or injury related to falls in the previous calendar year.
Beginning January 1, 2027, and annually thereafter, the Secretary of Health and Human Services shall submit to Congress a report on the number of falls (as reported by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) experienced by individuals aged 65 and older that received treatment for pain or injury related to a fall or falls experienced in the previous calendar year.
Each subsequent report would have to include data from earlier reports and describe year-to-year changes.
With respect to each subsequent report, such Secretary shall include the data reported in previous years and describe any changes from year to year.
The supplied actions snapshot, updated October 10, 2026, records introduction in the House on February 10, 2025, and referral that day to the Energy and Commerce and Ways and Means committees. It does not establish later passage or enactment.
Source snapshot updated 2026-10-10T08:05:41Z.
2025-02-10: Introduced in House
2025-02-10: 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 closer look
Reviewed version: Introduced in House · 2025-02-10. These findings describe provisions and who may benefit; they are not judgments of waste, corruption, or motive.
This review covers the supplied bill text. “None identified” does not rule out provisions in later versions or accompanying reports and disclosures.
Provisions outside the bill’s main subject, or policy changes attached to appropriations.
None identified in the reviewed text
No unrelated provision or policy change attached to appropriations was identified in the complete supplied introduced text. This conclusion is limited to that version.
Spending directed to particular recipients or places outside ordinary competitive or formula-based allocation.
None identified in the reviewed text
No congressionally directed spending for particular recipients or places was identified in the complete supplied introduced text. This conclusion does not establish the absence of earmarks in other versions or accompanying materials.
Narrow exceptions, exemptions, or preferential treatment that warrant a closer look.
None identified in the reviewed text
No materially narrow preferential carve-out or special exemption was identified in the complete supplied introduced text. The proposed benefit eligibility describes the program's intended beneficiaries. This conclusion is limited to that version.
Full text preserved for this analysis. Legislative record snapshot: Oct 10, 2026. How PlainBill uses AI