North Carolina hospitals bill rape victims

The vast majority of North Carolina's 3,000 or so emergency room patients examined for sexual assaults each year shoulder some of the cost of a rape kit test, according to state records and victim advocates. An analysis of records and interviews with hospital officials and administrators at several of North Carolina's major insurers suggest that charging the patients is a widespread practice. For those without insurance, hospitals send the bills to the North Carolina Department of Crime Control and Public Safety, which has a modest fund to help.