SASCA

Survivors' Access to Supportive Care Act or SASCA

This bill sets out programs and requirements to address access and quality issues related to sexual-assault examinations.

Specifically, the bill establishes

• training and technical assistance programs for health care providers on conducting sexual-assault examinations and treating survivors of sexual assault, including in rural and tribal settings;
• grants for states to assess the availability of trained providers to perform sexual-assault examinations; and
• a task force to assist state-level efforts to improve medical forensic evidence collection related to sexual assault.

The bill also requires institutions of higher education to provide information about the availability of sexual-assault examinations to survivors of sexual assault. Additionally, hospitals and specified components of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) must report on access and quality issues concerning sexual-assault examinations and related services.

Furthermore, HHS must address access to, and the quality of, trained health care providers who conduct sexual-assault examinations in the National Quality Strategy. This is a national effort to align public-sector and private-sector stakeholders to achieve better health and health care.