Some Louisiana Hospitals Are Sticking Rape Victims With Enormous Bills

Some Louisiana Hospitals Are Sticking Rape Victims With Enormous Bills

In some Louisiana hospitals, sexual assault victims are finding more than just emotional and mental trauma. According to a recent report in the Times-Picayune, rape victims are being stuck with large hospital bills on top of everything, something that has justifiably sparked outrage.

Times-Picayune reporter Rebecca Catalanello joined HuffPost Live on Monday to talk about her report and its findings.

"We're all over the map in terms of how these medical exams are covered [in Louisiana]," she told host Alyona Minkovski. "In some places, you can walk into a hospital ... and you'll never see a bill. In some places, the billing personnel have no idea that because you're a rape victim that you fall under specific laws that say you shouldn't be billed for these services."

Some of that confusion, according to Catalanello, comes from the privatization of Interim LSU, a public hospital in New Orleans. Before the state turned control of the hospital from Louisiana State University over to a private entity, sexual assault victims were never charged a dime for treatment. Now, they are charged for HIV and pregnancy tests, according to the report. Some of the victims' bills have been upwards of $2,000.

Read the rest of the report for more details here.

Watch the rest of the clip above, and catch the full HuffPost Live conversation here.

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Images From 'Surviving In Numbers' -- A Project Highlighting Sexual Assault Survivors' Experiences

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