Cumberland County lawmaker calls for change to law that allows rape victims to be charged for emergency exams

After reports that Cape Fear Valley Medical Center sent bills of up to $4,000 to victims of sexual assault for tests and the collection of evidence in their cases, Rep. Billy Richardson wants to close the loophole in the law.

Posted 6:45 p.m. Feb 4, 2020 — Updated 10:37 a.m. Feb 5, 2020

Gilbert Baez

, WRAL Fayetteville reporter

FAYETTEVILLE, N.C. — After reports that Cape Fear Valley Medical Center sent bills of up to $4,000 to victims of sexual assault for tests and the collection of evidence in their cases, Rep. Billy Richardson wants to close the loophole in the law.

Richardson, a Democrat who represents Cumberland County, plans to present legislation this spring when lawmakers reconvene in Raleigh.

"I met with bill drafters, and they said this is a gap and it needs fixing on two levels," Richardson said.

A law passed in 2009 made charging rape victims for evidence collection illegal.

"This was the spirit of the law, that we would not bill victims for being raped," said Deanna Gerdes, executive director of Rape Crisis Volunteers of Cumberland County.

She said Cape Fear Valley continued to send bills to victims, arguing "that they're not charging for the actual rape kit but all the other things that go into being a patient at a hospital."

WRAL obtained an itemized bill from a victim who was charged more than $5,000, inlcuding $820 for medication, more than $1,400 for laboratory tests and $2,922 for the use of the emergency room, even though she was in the hospital for only two hours.

Cape Fear Valley to rape victims: If you were charged for rape kit, let us know to waive costs

"I am pretty sure that they did not expect these rape kits to be performed in the parking lot," Gerdes said of the legislators who passed the 2009 law. "They knew they were going to be performed in a health care facility."

Janet Conway, spokeswoman for Cape Fear Valley, said, "North Carolina law does allow Cape Fear Valley to bill and receive compensation for services provided other than the forensic medical examination and rape kit.

Richardson said the problem goes beyond a single hospital.

He is looking to change what hospitals are currently charging victims of rape for the ancillary services associated with administering rape kits and to make sure hospitals are getting proper compensation to foot the bills for those services. He’s looking at how other states are addressing the issue.

Richardson said the original legislation needs to make clear that hospitals are legally obligated for a thorough exam and that rape victims should not be charged for any services associated with that exam.

He plans to submit legislation that would reimburse victims who paid out-of-pocket back to 2008.

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