Sec. 101. Understanding sexual assault care
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/bill/116/s/402/is/section-101A research copy — for the controlling text, always check the official state or federal source. Not legal advice.
It is the purpose of this section to identify areas for improvement in health care delivery systems providing services to survivors of sexual assault. The Secretary shall award grants to States to develop and implement State surveys to identify— the availability of and patient access to trained SAFE, SANE, and other providers who perform MFEs; the hospitals or clinics that offer MFEs and whether each hospital or clinic has full-time, part-time, or on-call coverage; regional, provider, or other barriers to access sexual assault care and services, including MFEs; billing and reimbursement practices for MFEs, including private health insurance, Medicare, Medicaid, the State’s victims compensation program, and any other crime funding or other sources of funding that contribute to payment for such examinations;
State requirements, minimum standards, and protocols for training sexual assault examiners; State requirements, minimum standards, and protocols for training non-SANE or SAFE emergency services personnel involved in MFEs; the availability of SAFE or SANE training, frequency of when training is convened, the providers of such training, the State’s role in such training, and what process or procedures are in place for continuing education of such examiners; the dedicated Federal and State funding to support SAFE or SANE training; and funding opportunities for SANE or SAFE training and continuing education.
To be eligible to receive a grant under this section, a State shall— have public, private, or nonprofit hospitals that receive Federal funding; and submit to the Secretary an application through a competitive process to be determined by the Secretary. The results of the surveys conducted under grants awarded under this section shall be published by the Secretary on the website of the Department of Health and Human Services on a biennial basis. A State that receives a grant under this section shall carry out the following:
Make the findings of the survey conducted under the grant public. Use the findings to develop a strategic action plan to increase the number of trained examiners available in the State and create policies to increase survivor access to trained examiners. Use the findings to develop and implement a public awareness campaign that includes the following: An online toolkit describing how and where sexual assault survivors can obtain assistance and care, including MFEs, in the State.
A Model Standard Response Protocol for health care providers to implement upon arrival of a patient seeking care for sexual assault. A Model Sexual Assault Response Team Protocol incorporating interdisciplinary community coordination between hospitals, emergency departments, hospital administration, local rape crisis programs, law enforcement, prosecuting attorneys, and other health and human service agencies and stakeholders with respect to delivering survivor-centered sexual assault care and MFEs.
A notice of State and Federal laws prohibiting charging or billing survivors of sexual assault for care and services related to sexual assault. There is authorized to be appropriated to carry out this section, $2,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2019 through 2024.