
'Surprise' hospital bills after childbirth are common, study says, but here's what to do
CNN
Almost one in five new parents received a "surprise" hospital bill as high as $2000 after childbirth, a new study finds. Here's what experts say you can do to avoid being blindsided by an unexpected expense.
This is on top of the average $4,500 out-of-pocket spending each woman spends on maternal care during the "12 months before to 3 months after delivery," wrote lead author Dr. Kao-Ping Chua, an assistant professor of pediatrics at the University of Michigan, in the study published Friday in JAMA Health Forum.
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth risked compromising sensitive military information that could have endangered US troops through his use of Signal to discuss attack plans, a Pentagon watchdog said in an unclassified report released Thursday. It also details how Hegseth declined to cooperate with the probe.

Two top House lawmakers emerged divided along party lines after a private briefing with the military official who oversaw September’s attack on an alleged drug vessel that included a so-called double-tap strike that killed surviving crew members, with a top Democrat calling video of the incident that was shared as part of the briefing “one of the most troubling things” he has seen as a lawmaker.

Authorities in Colombia are dealing with increasingly sophisticated criminals, who use advanced tech to produce and conceal the drugs they hope to export around the world. But police and the military are fighting back, using AI to flag suspicious passengers, cargo and mail - alongside more conventional air and sea patrols. CNN’s Isa Soares gets an inside look at Bogotá’s war on drugs.

As lawmakers demand answers over reports that the US military carried out a follow-up strike that killed survivors during an attacked on an alleged drug boat in the Caribbean, a career Navy SEAL who has spent most of his 30 years of military experience in special operations will be responsible for providing them.









