A Colorado law will require health insurers to pay for breast cancer screenings for certain groups, while a Florida bill that would mandate pre-abortion ultrasounds could face a veto.

~ Colorado: On Monday, Gov. Bill Ritter (D) signed into law a bill (HB 1252) that will require insurance companies to cover breast cancer screenings, including mammograms, for women ages 40 and older, women with a family history of breast cancer and women with genetic factors that heighten their risk for the disease, KUSA reports (Schrager, KUSA, 5/17). Ritter also signed cancer-related bills that will prohibit insurers from limiting coverage for cancer medications and establish penalties for inappropriately denying claims (AP/KJCT, 5/17).

~ Florida: Gov. Charlie Crist (I) is "leaning strongly" toward vetoing a health care bill (HB 1143) with a provision that would require women to pay for and undergo an ultrasound before a first-trimester abortion, Politico reports (Burns, Politico, 5/17). Women would be exempt from the ultrasound requirement if they provide a copy of a restraining order, police report, medical record or other court order or document showing that the pregnancy resulted from rape, domestic violence or incest. Another provision of the bill says that state or federal funds could not be used toward insurance coverage of elective abortions, except in cases of rape, incest or endangerment to the woman's life (Women's Health Policy Report, 5/5). In an interview with the Tampa Tribune's editorial board, Crist said the ultrasound provision "disturbs" him "[o]n two fronts," including that "forc[ing] a woman to go through this procedure ... almost seems mean-spirited." He also noted that women would have to "listen to a lecture, then on top of that, ... have to pay for it." Crist, who recently left the Republican Party to run for the U.S. Senate as an independent, said there is "probably not a whole lot" preventing him from opposing the bill. Once the bill reaches the governor's desk, he will have 15 days to sign or veto it, according to the Tribune (Reyes, Tampa Tribune, 5/14).

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