Good morning, Chicago. ✶
🔎 Below: Understanding hospital billing was supposed to get easier, but a federal law on healthcare pricing has failed, a Sun-Times investigation finds.
🗞️ Plus: Video contradicts an FBI agent’s account of shooting a teen, CPS grads reflect on tumultuous years of learning and more news you need to know.
📝 Keeping score: The White Sox lost to the Tigers, 5-4.
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⏱️: A 7-minute read
TODAY’S WEATHER 🌤️
Partly cloudy with a high near 71.
TODAY’S TOP STORY 🔎
Federal law that was supposed to make hospital billing simpler has failed
By Stephanie Zimmermann
Care costs: Prices for the same medical procedure can vary wildly, emblematic of a pricing system that some say is far too complicated and is the result of secret negotiations between hospitals and insurance companies, which occur before patients even walk in the door.
Key context: Hospitals are required to publicly post their prices for the procedures and tests they offer under the federal landmark Hospital Price Transparency Rule that took effect in 2021. The idea was that pricing transparency would empower consumers and drive competition. But compliance has been spotty and much of the data isn’t consumer friendly.
Price check: To try to shed light on the system, the Sun-Times and the University of Chicago’s Mansueto Institute for Urban Innovation gathered 2025 pricing data on thousands of medical procedures that hospitals published.
What we found: The analysis found large differences in prices for procedures throughout the Chicago area, whether comparing across hospitals or between different insurance plans at one hospital. The differences were repeated again and again in the data — from colonoscopies and hemodialysis to X-rays and ultrasounds — revealing a billing system that is opaque, inconsistent and difficult for most consumers to understand.
LET’S HEAR FROM YOU 🗣️
Have you had a recent procedure at a Chicago-area hospital? Were you surprised by the bill? Our consumer investigations reporter Stephanie Zimmermann would like to hear from you.
EDUCATION 🍎
After COVID, immigration enforcement, AI and more, high school grads share lessons
By Mary Norkol, Emmanuel Camarillo and Sarah Karp
Class of 2026: The education of Chicago Public Schools’ class of 2026 was shaped by many events that have already made the history books. The COVID-19 pandemic. The murder of George Floyd and the ensuing racial justice movement. A mass deportation campaign. The rise of artificial intelligence. Their post-high school lives could be just as eventful. We spoke with three teens about lessons they’ve learned.
Destiny Singleton: Growing up in Chicago and attending CPS taught her to lead with empathy and how to work with all different types of people, she said. In her classmates, she saw kindness and dedication, as well as the need for more access to opportunities and resources. The Ogden International School grad will attend Stanford University in the fall.
Rigoberto De La Torre Fonseca: Last fall’s ramped-up immigration enforcement has made him hesitant to leave his family, who immigrated from Mexico. But the Solorio Academy grad, who finished with an associate degree, said his family urged him to continue his education at Massachusetts Institute of Technology, where he’ll study in the fall. He says keeping his focus has been his way to make sure his parents’ sacrifices weren’t in vain.
Zachary McCarney: After being expelled from his traditional high school, he credits his grandmother with pushing him toward Excel Academy of Englewood, a CPS school that takes in students in predicaments like his. This spring, he was Excel’s 2026 valedictorian, and he’s bound for Illinois State University. He says what makes his class special is that through all the obstacles, they kept going.
OBAMA PRESIDENTIAL CENTER 🇺🇸
Visitors explore Obama Presidential Center museum on opening weekend
By Cindy Hernandez, Ambar Colón and Tina Sfondeles
Inside look: After Thursday’s invite-only event, the Obama Presidential Center opened to the public Friday in Jackson Park. Visitors who were able to secure much-coveted museum tickets for opening day were able to explore exhibits and attractions including a replica of President Barack Obama’s Oval Office and a display of first lady Michelle Obama’s dresses.
On campus: People who didn’t have tickets to the museum exhibits, some who traveled from across the country, found other things to do on the center’s campus, including art workshops, live performances and a sports clinic. For children, a large nature-inspired playground with slides, swings, tunnels and a rope course stole the show.
Public library: The center’s campus also unveiled a new Chicago Public Library location. On Friday, the former president and first lady surprised a group of young students with a reading of the book “Where the Wild Things Are.”
WATCH: WHAT’S FREE AT OPC ▶️
MORE NEWS YOU NEED 🗞️
- Video contradicts shooting account: Footage of a law enforcement officer’s shooting of a Markham teenager June 9 in Country Club Hills appears to contradict the account given to a federal judge in a sworn affidavit from an FBI special agent.
- DCFS, shelter sued: A former foster child is suing Illinois’ child welfare agency and operators of the Aunt Martha’s shelter over an alleged pattern of sexual abuse at the shelter.
- Nurses vote to unionize: Nurses at St. Mary of Nazareth Hospital in Chicago voted in favor of forming a union weeks after six colleagues were fired just as the group prepared to unionize.
- Developer sells portfolio: After 50 years, Peter Holsten is selling his portfolio of Chicago building as he and his wife prepare to retire. Of his total 2,638 units, 758 are Chicago Housing Authority mixed-income units.
- New pedestrian plaza: The city broke ground Thursday on Elise Malary Plaza, Andersonville’s first pedestrian plaza, named for the late beloved trans activist. The plaza will host farmers markets and community events.
- New piping plovers thrive: Monday marks one week since four hatchlings entered the world, and a team of 115 monitors out on Montrose Beach rain or shine have been watching over them.
FROM THE PRESS BOX ⚾🏒🏀
- Will Venable check-in: The White Sox manager is still learning the job, as are many of his new players. That mix of inexperience could be lethal for many teams. For the Sox, it has been rejuvenating, writes Jeff Agrest.
- Blackhawks’ offseason preview: The Hawks have much to do over the next two weeks during the peak of NHL summer activity, including the draft, free agency and trades.
- Bulls draft: The Bulls are set to infuse some young talent Tuesday in the first round of the 2026 NBA Draft.
CHICAGO MINI CROSSWORD 🌭
Today’s clue: 1A: Nhà Hàng specialty
BRIGHT ONE 🔆
Black cowboys celebrate Juneteenth with South Side horseback ride
By Kade Heather
Before leading a group of about 20 people on a Juneteenth horseback ride Friday, Murdock circled them up at Washington Park for a pep talk, a prayer and a loud “Yeehaw!”
The 78-year-old horseman, who goes by Murdock — just Murdock, no first name — is president of the Broken Arrow Horseback Riding Club.
Friday’s ride began at the park and proceeded north on Martin Luther King Drive, then east on 35th Street. From there, riders turned south on Cottage Grove Avenue back to Washington Park.
Murdock led the group in a pickup truck, affixed with an African American flag. Another pickup pulling a horse trailer followed. Drivers honked in support, construction workers recorded videos as the horses strolled by and a group of holiday celebrants yelled “Happy Juneteenth,” waving a Juneteenth flag.
“What’s more important is that we, as cowboys, represent to show the reflection of our heritage from years past,” Murdock said.
YOUR DAILY QUESTION ☕️
What’s on your summertime Chicago bucket list this year?
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Written and curated by: Matt Moore
Editor: Eydie Cubarrubia
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