Bone Health and Osteoporosis Foundation Applauds President's Executive Order Directing Bold Action to Improve Care for Those With Osteoporosis

Simple Changes by Medicare and VA Would Substantially Reduce Osteoporotic Fractures

ARLINGTON, Va., March 21, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Earlier this week, President Biden issued a sweeping Executive Order directing Federal government agencies to take bold actions to improve women's health research and to assure that the "gains made in research laboratories are translated into real-world clinical benefits for women." In his published statement accompanying the Executive Order, the President specifically highlighted osteoporosis as a critical women's health condition that was being targeted for action. 

Specifically, the White House statement says that the President is directing the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to "identify ways to improve … the clinical care that women receive" for diseases and conditions such as osteoporosis. The President added, "It is also the policy of my Administration to ensure that women have access to high-quality, evidence-based health care and to improve health outcomes for women across their lifespans and throughout the country."

"This is a major victory for the 10 million Americans with osteoporosis," said Claire Gill, CEO of the Bone Health and Osteoporosis Foundation. "We're grateful to President Biden and the First Lady for recognizing the need for action to help those with osteoporosis. Over two million Medicare beneficiaries, mostly women, suffer fractures due to osteoporosis every year. HHS should now act to implement the President's order to ensure those Americans get the evidence-based post fracture care that government research has demonstrated is effective at saving lives and lowering health care costs," continued Gill.

BHOF and 26 other leading national women's health, aging, care partner, and clinical organizations wrote to the White House in December calling for action and attention to this issue. One out of every two women over the age of 50 will suffer a fracture associated with osteoporosis in their lifetime, leading to more hospitalizations than heart attacks, strokes, or breast cancer.

According to a 2021 Milliman report analyzing most recent (2016) claims data, over 1.8 million Medicare beneficiaries, 70 percent of them women, suffered approximately 2.1 million osteoporotic fractures. Thirty percent of hip fracture patients died within a year, and nearly 42,000 were institutionalized in nursing homes within three years. Compared to the overall traditional Medicare population, osteoporotic fracture patients were three times more likely to suffer another fracture within a year. Estimates indicate the problem will grow even bigger, with a projected 68 percent increase in these fractures by 2040 and an associated national cost exceeding $95 billion.

About the Bone Health and Osteoporosis Foundation (BHOF)

Established in 1984, the Bone Health and Osteoporosis Foundation is the nation's leading health organization dedicated to promoting strong bones for life, preventing osteoporosis and broken bones, and reducing human suffering through programs of awareness, education, advocacy, and research. For more information on the Bone Health and Osteoporosis Foundation, visit bonehealthandosteoporosis.org.

Media Contact:
Carina May
[email protected]
Phone: 703-740-1764

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SOURCE Bone Health & Osteoporosis Foundation