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Republican legislative leaders want Gov. Jerry Brown to include $200 million in additional money for low-income dental services in the revised budget proposal he releases next week, saying the increase would help improve a program criticized as a “vicious circle of dysfunction” in a recent report. (Miller, 5/5)

Prosecutors say New York City will pay $4.3 million to settle claims that its fire department improperly received reimbursement from Medicare for ambulance calls that didn't meet the federal requirement for medical necessity. The settlement was announced Thursday by the U.S. attorney's office in Manhattan. (5/5)

Florida will get more than $1.6 million as part of a large multistate settlement involving Olympus America. The device-maker is paying $306 million to several states and the federal government to settle allegations that it paid illegal kickbacks to health care providers, according a statement from Attorney General Pam Bondi's Office. Olympus allegedly used improper financial incentives, including free and no-charge loans, to encourage doctors and hospitals to buy its endoscopes and surgical equipment, "unlawfully increasing sales and to gain market shares," according to Bondi's office. (Miller, 5/5)

A new Florida law allows more military vets to qualify for a diversion program meant to keep offenders out of prison. One Jacksonville army veteran said this program saved his life. (Elder, 5/5)

Federal health officials this week announced $6 million in funding to six community health centers in Georgia for facility renovation and expansion. (Miller, 5/5)

Twelve health centers in Florida will get more than $10 million from the federal government to renovate, expand and increase capacity to serve underserved patients, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services announced this week. (Ochoa, 5/5)

Orange County paramedics and hospitals are among the first in the nation to create and use an alert system for sepsis, a condition that can lead to organ failure or death. Sepsis is mostly identified in the hospital with blood tests, but local researchers are showing that paramedics can use a simple breath measurement to identify potential cases of sepsis in the field and prepare the hospitals for arrival of the patients. (Miller, 5/5)

The physician at Manchester's Valley Street Jail has agreed not to practice medicine at any correctional facility while the Board of Medicine investigates allegations that inmates received substandard care. The board issued an emergency order April 28 that temporarily suspended the license of Matthew Masewic, who has been physician at the Hillsborough County jail since 2009. In agreeing to the terms of the order, Masewic has not admitted to any misconduct. (Corwin, 5/5)

A New York prison guard has pleaded guilty to misdemeanor charges that he participated in a $1.6 million scheme to sell state workers earbuds and earplugs while billing the state insurance system for hearing aids. State Inspector General Catherine Leahy Scott announced Auburn Correctional Officer Joshua Powers' plea on Thursday. Authorities say the owner of a Syracuse-area hearing aids store paid Powers $72,000 to refer hundreds of state workers to his practice, where he sold them earbuds and earplugs. The devices were billed to the state at $3,000 per device. (5/5)