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The state budget proposed by House leaders Wednesday includes a new $250 million annual tax on hospitals to help fund the state’s big and growing Medicaid program. (Dayal McCluskey, 4/13)

Florida hospitals continue to have some of the highest Caesarean delivery rates in the country, according to a new analysis out from Consumer Reports. “People might find differences in nearby hospitals, so they really have to look at a map and at the rates and see what stories the numbers are telling,” said Doris Peter, director of the Consumer Reports Health Ratings Center. (Mack, 4/13)

Peoria-based OSF HealthCare, a nonprofit Catholic health system, is spinning off a corporate investment arm to financially back new technology and devices. The health system issued a news release Wednesday to announce the launch of OSF Ventures. OSF HealthCare CEO Kevin Schoeplein says the strategy will give the health system earlier access to technology. (4/13)

Blue Cross Blue Shield of Texas is threatening to drop medical facilities run by Hospital Corporation of America, including San Antonio’s Methodist Healthcare System, from its provider network in the vast majority of its group health plans come May 1 — potentially affecting several hundred thousand Texans. (O'Hare, 4/13)

Florida Gov. Rick Scott is appealing a judge's order that the governor reinstate the chairman of the board that oversees several public hospitals in Broward County. (4/13)

Hospital groups may soon learn whether they’ve made progress in bids to change how their customers’ unpaid bills factor into Medicare reimbursement calculations. The program for the elderly and disabled is poised to begin unveiling a series of its annual payment rules. (Young, 4/13)