§ 1407. Costs to be borne by the State

(a) As described in this section, the State shall cover the costs of certain medical care for victims of crime committed in this State without health insurance or whose health insurance does not pay for all of the care provided.

(b) The State shall bear the costs of forensic medical and psychological examinations administered to victims of crime committed in this State, in instances where that examination is requested by a law enforcement officer or a prosecuting authority of the State or any of its subdivisions and the victim does not have health coverage or the victim's health coverage does not cover the entire cost of the examination. The State shall also bear the costs of sexual assault examinations, as defined in 8 V.S.A. § 4089, administered to victims in cases of alleged sexual assault where the victim obtains such an examination prior to receiving such a request if the victim does not have health coverage or the victim's health coverage does not cover the entire cost of the examination. If, as a result of a sexual assault examination, the alleged victim has been referred for mental health counseling, the State shall bear any costs of such examination not covered by the victim's health coverage. These costs may be paid from the Victims' Compensation Fund from funds appropriated for that purpose.

(c)(1) Health care facilities and health care providers shall bill the victim's health insurance plan, Medicaid, Medicare, or another health benefit plan, as applicable, for the services described in subsection (b) of this section. If the victim does not have health coverage or if the victim's health benefit plan denies the claim, the Fund shall reimburse health care facilities and health care providers located in Vermont as defined in 18 V.S.A. § 9402 at 60 percent of the billed charges for these claims, and the health care provider or facility shall not bill any balance to the crime victim.

(2) If the victim's health coverage does not cover all of the medical care provided pursuant to this section and the victim would otherwise be responsible for any co-payment, coinsurance, deductible, or other cost-sharing, the Fund shall pay the victim's share directly to the health care facility or provider.

(d) A victim, at his or her own expense, may obtain copies of the results of an examination under this section. (Added 1981, No. 1 (Sp. Sess.), § 13, eff. July 17, 1981; amended 1993, No. 60, § 51; 2005, No. 215 (Adj. Sess.), § 75b; 2007, No. 173 (Adj. Sess.), § 4; 2015, No. 34, § 3, eff. Oct. 1, 2015.)