A bill introduced Monday in the House of Representatives would require private health insurance to cover forensic exams for sexual assault survivors in full. For an exam to be free under the law, it must be conducted by an accredited nurse known as a sexual assault nurse examiner, or SANE, but many victims of sexual violence don't know to seek that out. The new bill was introduced by Reps. Linda T. Sánchez, D-Calif.; Gwen Moore, D-Wis.; and Carol Miller, R-W.Va. The lawmakers' hope is that survivors with private insurance would not get billed for an exam, regardless of where it's performed. "This legislation is needed because too many survivors, grappling with trauma, also become burdened with the cost of a forensic medical exam — even though they shouldn’t be," Moore said in a statement.

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