By Joselyn King
For The Intelligencer
Triadelphia — U.S. Sen. Jim Justice sustained a serious fall earlier this year, and now he has drafted legislation aimed at keeping other seniors from a similar fate.
Justice, R-W.Va., discussed his “Stopping Addiction and Falls for the Elderly (SAFE) Act” during a stop Monday at First Settlement Physical Therapy at The Highlands.
The SAFE Act, as written, allows seniors on Medicare to receive a no-cost falls risk assessment from a physical or occupational therapist once a year as a part of their annual wellness visit.
The goal is to help seniors maintain their balance and detect other problems so they don’t later fall and sustain injuries, Justice explained. He noted that not only will this physically help seniors, it will also save billions of Medicare dollars spent each year on injuries from falls that could be prevented.
Justice, 75, received assistance in writing the bill from Simon Hargus, owner of FSPT and a second-generation physical therapist. Members of Wheeling University’s first doctoral physical therapy class also were present.
“This is a no-brainer,” Justice said. “People fall, and will seniors fall it can cost all of us an ungodly amount of money. And a lot of times they don’t get any better.”
He noted this bothers him because these injured just want to be able to live their lives like everyone else “and pass their wisdom on.”
Justice was in Charleston attending the West Virginia High School Girls State Basketball Tournament in his role as coach of the team from Greenbrier East High School when he had his fall.
He was leaving the press room when he sustained a fall that led to a dislocated shoulder.
“And I hit on this knee, which was already terrible,” Justice said. “I’ve had two knee replacements. It has been a real problem, but I was lucky. It could have been a lot worse.”
He said all too often those over 65 sustain falls that reduce their quality of life for the rest of their existence.
An annual assessment and assessment can help seniors to have better balance and cut down significantly on the number of falls, as well as Medicare costs, Justice continued.
“Those people – I hate to say it this way – are costing us tens and tens and tens of billions of dollars each year because of their falls,” he said. “What if we could cut out half of them? What if we could cut out 70% of this?”
Hargus said the patient benefiting from the SAFE Act would sit down for an hour with a therapist to discuss their mobility.
“We ask them, ‘Why are you losing your balance, and what exercises are you doing to mitigate that?’” he explained. “And we tell them what exercises they do at home to get their balance back.”
Later in the day, Justice with Babydog visited Cameron Elementary School to welcome students and staff back for a new school year.
Babydog was given a blue shirt designating her “an honorary dragon.”
Justice told the students to believe in themselves, and that should realize just how blessed they are.
“In West Virginia, we have all this goodness,” he said. “You see all these people around you who love you. There’s all kinds, and because they love you you have an advantage like you couldn’t imagine. Just shoot for the moon. Just dream as big as you can, because all kinds of goodness can come to you.”
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