The Forensic Nurse

As if being sexually assualted isn’t bad enough, in some instances victims are billed for the forensic medical exam used to collect evidence against their attacker.

In order to qualify for federal grants under the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA),  every state must assume the full out of pocket costs for forensic medical examinations.

The cost of collecting and processing the evidence collection kit varies widely from location to location and from state to state. Some may be as little as a few hundred dollars and others may range into the several thousands of dollars.

The billing process isnt nationally standardized either. Some centers may bill the insurance company directly, some may attempt to collect from the victims compensation act funds, and yet still others may bill the victim to cover some or all of the fees.

 Definitions under VAWA: For the purpose of the VAWA requirement, the term “forensic medical examination” means “an examination provided to a sexual assault victim by medical personnel trained to gather evidence of a sexual assault in a manner suitable for use in a court of law” According to regulations of the STOP Program, the exam should include, at a minimum, i) examination of physical trauma; ii) determination of penetration or force; iii) patient interview; and iv) collection and evaluation of evidence. The inclusion of additional procedures (e.g., testing for STIs) to obtain evidence may be determined by the State, Indian tribal government, or unit of local government in accordance with its current laws, policies, and practices.

By regulation, “full out-of-pocket cost” means “any expense that may be charged to a victim in connection with a medical forensic examination for the purpose of gathering evidence of a sexual assault” Examples of such expenses may include the full cost of the exam or a fee established by the facility conducting the exam. Often, medical services that are not related to evidence gathering will not be covered by this requirement.

Related Articles:

http://www.usnews.com/blogs/on-health-and-money/2008/02/21/rape-victims-can-be-hurt-financially-too.html

http://samfe.dna.gov/overarching_issues/payment/>

This entry was posted on Tuesday, February 26th, 2008 at 9:22 am and is filed under Education, Resources, SANE, Sexual Assaults. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.