Megan Rondini Act

Megan Rondini Act

This bill amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act to require the Department of Health and Human Services to designate a hospital as a "SAFE-ready facility" if the hospital: (1) employs or contracts with a sexual-assault forensic examiner, or (2) uses a telemedicine system of such examiners. Subject to civil penalties, and as a condition of participation in the Medicare program, a hospital that has an emergency department but is not designated as a SAFE-ready facility must meet certain requirements. Specifically, with respect to an individual who comes to the hospital's emergency department for treatment relating to sexual assault, the hospital must (regardless of whether the individual is eligible for Medicare):

• inform the individual that the hospital is not a SAFE-ready facility;
• provide the name and location of the nearest SAFE-ready facility;
• inform the individual that the individual may elect either to receive treatment at the hospital or to be stabilized and transferred to the nearest SAFE-ready facility; and
• if the individual elects to be transferred, obtain the individual's written consent for the transfer, contact the nearest SAFE-ready facility to confirm that a sexual-assault forensic examiner or telemedicine system is available, and stabilize and transfer the individual.

In addition, a hospital with an emergency department must develop and implement a plan to train relevant personnel on sexual-assault forensic-evidence collection.

Written by the nonpartisan Congressional Research Service. All summary versions on Congress.gov