SB87 clarifies that counties must pay for the complete costs of forensic medical examinations for rape and sexual assault victims, including hospital services, lab tests, medications, and imaging—and specifies that victims don't have to report the crime or cooperate with police to receive this free examination. The bill also requires hospitals and clinics to work with counties to set up payment processes and inform victims that these exams are available at no cost to them.
The engrossment made primarily technical edits to clarify language and fix grammar, such as changing "Physician" to "Provider," "must" to "shall" in certain places, and "medicaid" to "Medicaid," without substantively altering the bill's requirements that counties pay for forensic medical exams or the protections for minors and protected persons to consent independently. These changes STRENGTHEN the bill by improving clarity and consistency in the statutory language.
The amendment removes redundant cross-references to a definition section (§ 22-22-26.5) and simplifies language by consistently replacing "physician, hospital," with just "hospital" throughout the bill, while also making minor grammatical changes like substituting "must" for "shall" and "medicaid" for "Medicaid." These are primarily technical and formatting refinements that narrow the bill's scope by eliminating physicians as explicitly named service providers, though this may be unintentional given that hospitals typically employ physicians.
Other amendments
Signed by the Governor S.J. 488
Delivered to the Governor S.J. 477
Signed by the Speaker H.J. 516
Signed by the President S.J. 448
House of Representatives Do Pass Amended Passed, YEAS 65, NAYS 0. H.J. 470
Health and Human Services Certified uncontested, placed on consent
Health and Human Services Do Pass Passed, YEAS 11, NAYS 0.
Health and Human Services Scheduled for hearing
First read in House and referred to House Health and Human Services H.J. 416
Senate Do Pass Amended Passed, YEAS 34, NAYS 0. S.J. 340
Health and Human Services Certified uncontested, placed on consent S.J. 15
Health and Human Services Do Pass Amended Passed, YEAS 6, NAYS 0. S.J. 15
Health and Human Services Motion to amend S.J. 15
Health and Human Services Scheduled for hearing S.J. 1
First read in Senate and referred to Senate Health and Human Services S.J. 55
Prime sponsor · Rep.
R
Prime sponsor · Sen.
R
Do Pass Amended
Health and Human Services — Do Pass
Do Pass Amended
Health and Human Services — Do Pass Amended