re: Medical billing nightmares: anybody want to share stories?

I hate dealing with medical billing office. My wife sees a doctor who requests some blood work and 2 xrays. My hospitalization policy does not cover this period. I tell the lab and xray business office and they say no problem, we will treat you as a cash customer with no insurance. They charge $362 for lab and $172 for xray. Paid lab on the spot and paid xray when bill was mailed to me, also paid radiology group $75 for reading the film. Everybody gets paid cash and its all good right. Started getting bills for $1247 for lab work only. Requested itemized bill and its the same lab work for nearly 4 times the earlier billing. All because I have a hospitalization policy and they tried to bill insurance company. They can kiss my arse.