Official Text and Analysis.

Directs the Office of Crime Victims Advocacy (OCVA) to develop practices for local communities to increase access to forensic nurse examiner services in nonfatal strangulation assaults, and to publish those best practices to its website by January 1, 2022.

Limits the noncharging of exams for nonfatal strangulation victims to two years, or when the funding provided by the Legislature for this purpose is exhausted. Prohibits the Department of Labor and Industries from reducing provider reimbursement rates for other claims if funding provided solely for exams for victims of nonfatal strangulation is exhausted. Requires Department of Labor and Industries to report to the Legislature regarding claims received by and paid for nonfatal strangulation victims, including those which involve sexual assault, and those for which a police report was filed. Adds an expiration date to the noncharging of medical exams for victims of nonfatal strangulation.

(1) Removes the provision that allows the Department of Labor and Industries (Department) to return to paying for nonfatal strangulation forensic exams after insurance in certain circumstances. (2) Specifies that the strategies developed by the Office of Crime Victims Advocacy (OCVA) to make forensic nurse examiner training available in all regions of the state may not require medical facilities to incur unreasonable expenses. Further provides that the strategies should take into account factors deemed appropriate and relevant by the OCVA as well as the unique challenges faced by medical facilities and nurses operating in rural areas. (3) Requires the OCVA to consult with the schools of nursing at Washington State University and the University of Washington when developing the strategies.

Senate concurred in House amendment(s).