Previous Page | Print this Document

Senate Health Care Financing Chair to testify 

April 25, 2007...On Wednesday, May 2, 2007, Sen. Richard T. Moore, Senate Chair of the Health Care Financing Committee, will testify on two important pieces of legislation he filed to improve the health of senior citizens and control health care costs in the state. These bills would aim at reducing the rate of falls among senior citizens, events that are largely avoidable but remain one of the leading causes of hospitalization and placement in a long-term care facility for Massachusetts’s senior citizens. 

“We can avoid falls through prevention,” said Moore. “Simple, inexpensive measures are proved to reduce the rate of falls among seniors. Unfortunately, Massachusetts needs to do more to communicate these simple steps to senior citizens. The passage of these two critical bills will save lives, prevent serious injuries and save scarce health care dollars.” 

The Massachusetts Department of Public Health estimates that falls-related injuries land over 150 senior citizens in the hospital each day and result in direct hospital costs of well over $350 million a year. When other related recovery and long-term care expenses are considered, these expenses increase by hundreds of millions of dollars. 

Together, S 421 An Act Relative to the Prevention of Falls in the Elderly Community and S. 422, An Act to Prevent Falls Among Older Adults will work to better identify the impact of falls on senior citizens and reduce their incidence rate. 

S. 421 aims at expanding our understanding of falls and their impact on the Commonwealth. The legislation will create a special commission on falls prevention to study the rate and cost of falls in the Commonwealth and make recommendations on, among other things, how to reduce their likelihood. 

S 422 will work with this commission to establish the Massachusetts Falls Prevention Program. It will require the Secretary of Elder Affairs to: (1) oversee and support a statewide education campaign focusing on reducing falls among older adults, on preventing repeat falls, and on educating health professionals about falls risk, assessment, and prevention; and (2) award grants for local, regional and statewide education campaigns.

The Committee on Elder Affairs hearing will be held on May 2, 2007 at 11:00am in Hearing Room B-2 at the State House in Boston. 

To view the complete text and summary information for these bills, visit Sen. Moore’s website at www.senatormoore.com.

Previous Page | Print this Document