Crime Victim Compensation and Exam Costs After Sexual Assault in Michigan

Two separate state arrangements deal with the cost of a sexual assault in Michigan. The first pays for the medical forensic examination itself: the provider may not bill the victim for any portion of it.^[1] The second is Crime Victim Compensation, a program that may help pay out-of-pocket medical expenses, lost earnings, counseling and other expenses of people harmed as the direct result of a crime, up to $45,000 per claimant.^[7][3]

If you are in danger or need medical care, call 911.^[8][9] The National Sexual Assault Hotline is free, confidential and open 24/7 at 800.656.HOPE (4673).^[10] Michigan's VOICES4 hotline takes calls and texts at 1-855-864-2374 at any hour.^[11][12] An advocate at a local sexual assault program can help with the forms described below.

This page covers both: who pays for the exam, what compensation covers and its limits, the deadlines, and how to apply.

Who pays for the forensic exam

The exam-payment rules are in MCL 18.355a, and the hospital must tell the patient about them.^[13] They work like this:

1. No bill to the patient. A health care provider "shall not submit a bill for any portion of the costs of a sexual assault medical forensic examination to the victim of the sexual assault, including any insurance deductible or co-pay, denial of claim by an insurer, or any other out-of-pocket expense."^[1]
2. Insurance only with written consent. The provider must advise the victim, orally and in writing, that a claim will not be submitted to the victim's insurance carrier without express written consent, and that the victim may decline if a claim would substantially interfere with personal privacy or safety.^[14]
3. Otherwise, the provider looks elsewhere. If reimbursement cannot be obtained from the victim's insurance or insurance is unavailable, the provider may seek payment from the crime victim services commission, from another entity other than the victim, or both.^[15]
4. What the commission pays the provider. Not more than $1,200 for an examination, of which not more than $700 is for the use of the emergency room, clinic or examination room and the examination itself; the rest covers related laboratory services and pharmaceutical items.^[16]

The $1,200 figure is a ceiling on what the commission pays a provider. The statute's bar on billing the victim covers any portion of the examination's costs.^[16][1] The State calls this arrangement SAFE Response and says a hospital, doctor or nurse cannot require a victim to talk to the police in order to get the examination.^[17]

To be payable, an examination includes the collection of a medical history; a general medical examination, including laboratory services and the dispensing of prescribed pharmaceutical items; one or more of a detailed oral, anal or genital examination; and administration of a sexual assault evidence kit with related procedures.^[18] Information the commission collects for exam payment that identifies a victim is exempt from the Freedom of Information Act, cannot be obtained by subpoena or in discovery, and is inadmissible, except with the victim's consent or as that subsection otherwise provides.^[19]

If a bill arrives anyway

The State's SAFE Response page prints (517) 335-7233 as the program's telephone number, and the State's forensic-exam page tells anyone who has been billed for an examination to call SAFE Response at that number. A third State page, on paying for the examination, prints a number that differs by one digit (334 in place of 335). This page uses the number on the program's own page as read on 4 October 2026; if the line does not connect, the compensation program's victims-only helpline is 877-251-7373.^[20][6] The exam is described in The sexual assault forensic exam.

What Crime Victim Compensation is

The program's pages are published by the Division of Victim Services in the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services; the statute calls the decision-maker the crime victim services commission.^[7] A "victim" is a person who suffers a personal injury as a direct result of a crime, and "personal injury" means actual bodily harm, including pregnancy, or psychological, mental or emotional injury resulting from a reasonably perceived or actual threat of injury or death.^[21]

It pays for loss that nothing else has covered. An award for out-of-pocket loss equals unreimbursed and unreimbursable expenses related to the crime, and an award must be reduced by payments received from insurance, from public funds, and from or on behalf of the person who committed the crime.^[4] Restitution ordered in a criminal case and a civil suit are different things, covered in Criminal case vs. civil case.

What it covers, and the limits

Item	Limit in the statute
All awards together	The aggregate award must not exceed $45,000 per claimant.[3]
Counseling	Not more than 35 hourly sessions per individual, which may include not more than 20 family sessions; up to $80 per hourly session for a licensed or registered therapist or counselor, or $125 for a psychologist or physician.[22]
Lost earnings	Not more than $1,000 for each week of lost earnings.[23]
Relocation	Reasonable expenses of relocating for safety or well-being, not more than $3,800 per claimant; unless good cause is shown, the move is to be within 1 year of the crime or of a later threat.[23]
Home security	Not more than $1,000 per residence for installing, increasing or replacing residential security.[23]
Transportation	To a victim services organization, medical care or mental health care: $1,000 in aggregate for travel of not more than 50 miles each way, or $5,000 where the travel is at least 50 miles each way to treatment not available within 50 miles.[24]
Clothing or bedding held as evidence	Replacement costs of not more than $250.[24]
Emergency award	Not more than $4,000, which the commission may make pending a final decision where an award probably will be made and undue hardship would otherwise result; it is deducted from the final award, and any excess over the final award must be repaid.[25]

These are ceilings. The statute sets the most that can be awarded in each category; it does not say what a particular claim will receive.

Who can claim

Besides the victim, eligible claimants include relatives to the second degree, a dating partner, household members, and a minor victim's guardian or primary caregiver.^[26] A person who is criminally responsible for the crime, or an accomplice to it, is not eligible.^[26] The commission must also decide whether the victim's own misconduct contributed to the injury and reduce or reject the claim if so; the statute describes misconduct as including provocation of or participation in a crime at or immediately before the injury.^[26]

There is normally a minimum loss: at least $200 of out-of-pocket loss, or at least 5 days of lost earnings or support. For a victim of first-, second- or third-degree criminal sexual conduct, the commission may waive that minimum.^[27]

The commission may not grant an award unless its investigation verifies four things: a crime was committed; the crime directly resulted in injury to the victim; police records show the crime was reported to the proper authorities; and the crime did not occur while the victim was confined in a correctional facility.^[28]

Reporting to police and the forensic exam

This is the point on which sexual assault claims differ, and on which the State's own pages are not uniform.

• The statute. The commission may not grant an award unless its investigation verifies, among other facts, that "police records show that the crime was reported to the proper authorities."^[28] It must reject a claim if it determines there was "willful noncooperation by the victim or other claimant with the law enforcement agency or the prosecuting attorney."^[29] And the exam-payment section provides that, for exam payments and for compensation payments to victims, administration of a sexual assault medical forensic examination "satisfies the requirements for prompt law enforcement reporting and victim cooperation" under those two sections.^[5]
• The State's eligibility page. It says the crime must be reported to law enforcement "(waivers may apply)"; that if the crime was a sexual assault, "a sexual assault forensic exam may be used in lieu of reporting to police"; and that the victim or claimant must cooperate with law enforcement officials in the investigation and prosecution of the case "(waivers may apply)."^[30][31]
• The State's SAFE Response page. Describing help with medical bills for a physical injury other than the forensic exam, says the victim would have to submit a compensation claim, report the incident to the police, cooperate with the investigation and use medical insurance or any other resource available for payment.^[32]

The statute is the law; the web pages are the agency's summaries. This guide does not resolve how the program applies them to a particular claim. A person whose claim turns on it can ask the program directly at 877-251-7373.^[6] The reporting choices themselves are set out in Your options for reporting.

Deadlines

Situation	Deadline to file the claim
General rule	Not later than 5 years after the crime; the commission may extend the period on petition for good cause.[2]
First-, second- or third-degree criminal sexual conduct against a person under 18, reported before age 28	Not later than 5 years after the crime was reported.[33]
The same offenses, reported after age 28	Not later than 5 years after the report, if the claimant shows good cause for the delay in reporting.[33]

The 5-year rule took effect on August 12, 2023, and the section setting the maximum award was last amended effective the same day. Guides written before then may give a different filing deadline and maximum; as of October 2026 the statute provides 5 years and $45,000.^[2][3] The longer period for people who were under 18 applies to first-, second- and third-degree criminal sexual conduct; the fourth degree is not listed in that exception.^[33]

How to apply

1. Get the application. The program's pages are on the State's Crime Victim Compensation site, including the page on applying.^[7][6]
2. Check eligibility. The State's eligibility page lists the reporting requirement, the cooperation requirement and filing within five years from the date of injury or discovery, each with the note that waivers may apply, and the forensic-exam alternative for sexual assault.^[30][31]
3. Gather what shows the loss. Bills, receipts, insurance statements and records of missed work are the practical starting point, because an award covers unreimbursed loss.^[4] The commission must decide each expense or loss as it receives sufficient documentation for it and may not require documentation of every loss first.^[34]
4. Send it in. The application must be on a form approved by the commission.^[34] The State's page says completed applications can be e-mailed to MDHHS-MichiganCrimeVictim@Michigan.gov or faxed to 517-335-2439.^[6]
5. Ask about an emergency award if waiting would cause hardship; the statute tells the commission to provide a procedure for requesting one.^[25]
6. Call with questions. The victims-only toll-free helpline is 877-251-7373.^[6]

Police are required to give every crime victim written information about victim compensation within 24 hours after first contact, and the prosecuting attorney's written notice, due not later than 7 days after arraignment, must include details and eligibility requirements for compensation.^[35][36] Time away from work for counseling or victim-services appointments can itself count as lost earnings.^[23]

What people get wrong

• "The exam is covered up to $1,200 and I pay the rest." The $1,200 is what the commission pays the provider; the provider may not bill the victim for any portion.^[16][1]
• "Compensation needs a conviction." A claim is investigated and determined regardless of whether anyone was apprehended, prosecuted or convicted, unless that outcome is a direct result of willful noncooperation by the claimant.^[29]
• "It pays on top of insurance." An award is reduced by insurance, public funds and payments from the person who committed the crime.^[4]
• "There is no help with small losses." The $200 or 5-day minimum can be waived for a victim of first-, second- or third-degree criminal sexual conduct.^[27]

A written report of the decision and its reasons is sent to the claimant. Within 30 days after receiving it, the claimant may apply in writing for the full commission to consider the decision; within 30 days after receiving the commission's final decision, the claimant may seek leave to appeal in the Court of Appeals.^[37]

Your other rights after an assault, including time off work and release from a lease, are in Rights of sexual assault survivors in Michigan. Suing the person responsible is covered in Civil lawsuits for sexual assault.