FAIR Health Assists State Crime Victims’ Funds
August 17, 2023
FAIR Health works with state and federal government agencies for many purposes, among them assistance with state crime victims’ compensation programs, or state crime victims’ funds. In September, FAIR Health staff will attend the National Training Institute of the National Center for Victims of Crime in Boston to learn about additional ways in which we might support this important area of service.
State crime victims’ funds support crime victims in a number of ways, including reimbursing them for crime-related expenses. Such expenses may include medical and counseling costs, lost wages, loss of support and funeral and burial costs. All 50 states and the District of Columbia have established crime victims’ compensation programs. Currently, FAIR Health provides data to assist Georgia and New York with paying medical expenses for uninsured victims of crimes.
Georgia is required by law to use the Georgia workers’ compensation fee schedule rates to reimburse medical providers for services provided to crime victims who do not have insurance coverage. FAIR Health works with the Georgia Criminal Justice Coordinating Council (CJCC), which administers the state’s Crime Victims Compensation Program, to help the CJCC understand how the fee schedule works and answer questions that arise as it uses the fee schedule. Each year since 2015, FAIR Health has provided development assistance and data consultation to the Georgia State Board of Workers’ Compensation about the fee schedule. That fee schedule is updated annually, and FAIR Health communicates the changes in advance to help the CJCC update its systems.
New York State’s Office of Victim Services licenses FAIR Health’s benchmark data through FH® Online, a web-based lookup tool, to support its needs for paying providers who treat crime victims.
FAIR Health data are a resource that can be useful to state and federal agencies in many contexts. These include paying for medical expenses (in the case of crime victims’ funds), regulating the payment of medical expenses (for example, in the cases of workers’ compensation, auto liability and surprise billing) and studying the cost of medical care.
From September 6 to 8 in Boston, the National Center for Victims of Crime will hold its National Training Institute, in conjunction with the National Crime Victim Bar Association’s 2023 National Conference. The institute is a forum for law enforcement, victim service professionals, allied practitioners, policy makers and researchers to share current developments and build new collaborations. FAIR Health President Robin Gelburd and other staff will attend the institute to learn more about crime victims’ agencies and their services and meet representatives from state crime victims’ funds. FAIR Health hopes to introduce its data as a resource for organizations that may have a need to understand medical expenses.
Ms. Gelburd stated: “We are pleased that FAIR Health data can help support people who have been victims of crime. This is yet another way in which we can fulfill our mission. We look forward to learning more about this valuable work at the institute and introducing ourselves to organizations that may find our data useful.”
For more information about the services and data products FAIR Health offers to state and federal agencies, including those administering crime victims’ funds, contact FAIR Health by email at info@fairhealth.org or call 855-301-FAIR (3247), Monday through Friday, 9 am to 6 pm ET.