Researchers used national data for emergency room visits and found that 16% of victims had to pay out-of-pocket for their emergency department visits in 2019, according to a research letter published Wednesday in the New England Journal of Medicine. The charges averaged $3,551 for most survivors, with those who are pregnant having to pay even more: $4,553 on average, the researchers found. Victims with private health insurance were also still expected to cover approximately 14% of their emergency department costs out-of-pocket. “Such costs may particularly burden low-income women and girls who disproportionately are victims of sexual assault,” the researchers wrote. “The health care system needs to stop enforcing sexism.

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