MADISON, WI (WTAQ) - A number of Wisconsin sexual assault victims have had to pay the medical costs of investigating their cases out of their own pockets.

The Appleton Post-Crescent says the tab can run as high as $1,200 for things like swab tests, antibiotics, and pregnancy exams.

The patients’ insurance companies normally pick up the tab. And a special state fund pays those costs for victims without insurance, or those who choose not to report it.

But an undetermined number of sex assault victims get stuck with the bill themselves. And that’s wrong, according to Jill Karofsky of the state Justice Department’s Office of Crime Victim Services.

She says that when someone is sexually assaulted, their bodies become crime scenes – and the state ought to pay to get the forensic evidence it needs.

In the meantime, Karofsky says the state is trying to educate hospital personnel – some of whom don’t know that a special fund exists.