New Resource Outlines Efforts to Expand Screening and Counseling for Intimate Partner Violence

A new resource gives an overview of intimate partner violence (IPV) in the US, discusses the populations most impacted, and insurance coverage of IPV screening, counseling, and referral services.

The Affordable Care Act (ACA) changed access to coverage and services for people who have experienced IPV. The ACA requires private plans and Medicaid expansion programs to cover preventative screening for IPV. Many providers have started to incorporate IPV screening and intervention into their practice, but few women are screened for IPV in health care settings.

Despite improved coverage for IPV screening, there are several challenges to implementing IPV screenings in health care settings, including ensuring patient privacy, mandatory reporting laws, and time constraints during appointments. The brief also provides case studies of providers who are trying to better implement IPV care into their practice in response to these barriers.

The brief calls attention to populations at higher risk for IPV, including women living with HIV. In addition to this new brief, KFF also has updated a brief that highlights the link between HIV and IPV for women, and reviews key policy changes that attempt to address the intersection of these issues. Greater Than AIDS, KFF’s national public information campaign, also has a series of informational videos of women telling their stories about living with HIV and overcoming IPV.