Here are four things to know about the bill.
1. The bill — the Survivors’ Access to Supportive Care Act — was introduced in Congress Wednesday by Sen. Patty Murray (D-Washington).
2. The bill “would direct HHS to establish a national training and continuing education program [for sexual assault nurse examiners], to be tested and incorporated byhealthcare providers nationwide,” an aide for Sen. Murray told CNN.
3. Under the bill, $12 million would be set aside to support a pilot grant program that would expand training and state-level surveys to evaluate needs, according to the report.
4. The bill comes on the heels of a new report from the Government Accountability Office, which revealed a serious shortage of sexual assault nurse examiners nationwide. The study, which looked at six states — Florida, Massachusetts, Colorado, Nebraska, Wisconsin and Oregon — found the number of examiners available in those states did not meet the need for exams, especially in rural areas.
The GAO noted that data on the number of examiners nationwide and in selected states are limited or unavailable. However, approximately 227 programs in 49 states that received federal funding from the Department of Justice reported providing training for more than 6,000 examiners in 2013, the most recent data show, according to the GAO.
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