Funding low for rape evidence collection

ST. JOSEPH, Mo. -- A state program set up to pay the costs of collecting evidence in rape cases has exhausted its budget, forcing officials to look elsewhere for money.

Missouri lawmakers passed legislation in August making the state responsible for paying for the so-called "rape kit" of evidence collected at hospital emergency rooms and tests following a sexual assault. Before the law, victims were responsible for the costs.

Unsure of the need, legislators approved a budget of $320,000 for the first year.

But the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services says that in the past six months, hospitals have submitted sexual assault exams for 969 women in Missouri for a total of $674,000.

Harold Kirby, deputy director off the Division of Community and Public Health, said a supplemental bill now moving through the general assembly would put money back in the budget.

The Missouri Coalition Against Domestic and Sexual Violence pushed for the rape kit funding program as a way for the state to qualify for funding under the federal Violence Against Women Act of 2005, said coalition spokeswoman Lisa Weingarth.

"(The legislation) was just a stab in the dark on how much we would need, and it's turned out not to be enough," Weingarth said. She said the coalition supports Gov. Matt Blunt's proposal to increase the program's budget next year to $1.2 million.

Under the program, a victim doesn't have to report an assault to police to receive state funding. A victim's support agency can guarantee that the attack occurred.

Before August, sexual assault victims had to pay upfront for the exams and seek reimbursement either through their insurance companies or by requesting payment through the state's limited crime victim's compensation funds.

Kim Carroll, YWCA victim services director in St. Joseph, said hospitals have sometime written off the cost of the exams and that victims in her community had their bills taken care of through state funding even before the legislation.

But Buchanan County Prosecutor Dwight Scroggins said victims' names would still sometimes get into the billing process, leading to past due notices from the hospital.

In addition, bills submitted to insurance companies would become "an unwelcome disclosure to their employers and fellow employees who might process the stuff," Scroggins said.

Weingarth said the coalition also supports expanding the program to cover a larger number of emergency room procedures and costs. For example, Carroll said a sexual assault victim late last year was prescribed an expensive drug aimed at heading off an infection of HIV that had to be administered within 48 hours.

The drug wasn't covered under the legislation but the hospital agreed to cover the cost.