Medical billing nightmares: anybody want to share stories?

During my wife's pregnancy on one of her check ups, the doctor told us that there was cause for concern with one of my wife's blood samples and that I should get the same test done as well just to be sure because it would be a bigger deal if we both had the same issue. She told us that her office could handle the blood test, so no big deal, I got the blood test and went on with my day.

1 month later we got a bill for $3k for 1 goddamn blood test. The insurance refused to pay any of it because it was out of network for me because we were at a women's hospital.

I fought it for about 6 months but finally just caved and paid the bill when the hospital started threatening to call a collections agency.

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I fought it for about 6 months but finally just caved and paid the bill when the hospital started threatening to call a collections agency.

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The whole industry feels like such a sham and it feels like you have no other choice than to do what you're told. They can basically add a charge for anything, label it in their internal code, and how can you argue if that service was provided or not?

We had so many instances like this in a 24 month period that I began to fight back a bit. We'd take our child to the doctor regularly because she was quite ill and then one day got a call from a collections agency about 6 months later. Turns out, we were not receiving the bills from the hospital/doctor for whatever reason. We assumed that most of them were being covered by insurance. Once I got the first call, I started calling around to every medical facility I visited and it was such a screwed up web of issues from our insurance company and the facilities that was completely out of my control.

The facilities said they tried calling me and mailing us letters "multiple" times to tell us these bills were past due but I never received a single one. I checked cell phone records, etc. to make sure they weren't calling my wife and nothing. They are very quick to send to collections and my credit is absolutely spotless. I have never avoided paying any bill or even a single day late in my life due to an "OCD" like focus on my finances.

I started telling them to provide me with their records of mailing/calling me or I would look into taking them to court for sending me to collections and potentially having my credit affected. (It never was because I paid everything immediately once I got the first call.)

Now, I literally call my insurance company and then also the facility a week or so after anyone in my family has a medical visit to make sure everything is in the right hands, etc. Even then, how do I know if my insurance company is covering everything it is supposed to cover, etc.??

It's ridiculous.

I had to get stitches in November. Went to in-network urgent care. Was apparently seen by an out of network physician...which I'm not sure how that's even possible. Ended up with a relatively minor bill...but something I wasn't even aware would happen.

Wife had an MRI earlier this year. Paid $300 at the time of service. Was told they'd bill insurance and we'd find out what the remainder would be. Since then we've received 3 bills:

- One for $85 two weeks after the MRI for the doctor visit.
- One for $590 about 3 months after for the MRI, which when I called to inquire about paying was told insurance covered it.
- One for $215 last week (5 months later) for the "lab"

I have had a shite ton of medical billing issues. And if the hospital is wrong, good luck getting it cleared.

I had a doctor ask for some tests on a biopsy that I did not request, and were not standard. Cost me like $600 in the end. I was so livid when i got the bill - I didn't get this, but oh yes apparently I did. The insurance company was no help.

I got a bill 5 years after a knee surgery. It was maybe $250, but they called collections on me. I got a laywer friend to write a letter for me, and it stopped it. But annoying as all frick.

What I especially hate is when they say - this is your portion at the office, and then you get a bill later in the mail.

Fighting with dental insurance right now....apparently Delta will pay for ONE crown on a tooth, but if it needs to be replaced, you're on your own. WTF? No one breaks a crown by choice.....it's like a car tire, if you have one long enough, it may chip or crack.

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Fighting with dental insurance right now....apparently Delta will pay for ONE crown on a tooth, but if it needs to be replaced, you're on your own. WTF? No one breaks a crown by choice.....it's like a car tire, if you have one long enough, it may chip or crack.

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So before my wifes pregnancy, they called our insurance company to confirm what was covered.

The lazy bitch called BCB of Texas instead of BCB of Alabama like my card CLEARLY States.

Come to find out they only cover 2 ultra-soudns and they scheduled us for 4.

After the 3rd, BCBS stopped paying. The hospital didn't tell us until after our 4th.

It's not necessarily a nightmare because I came out way ahead, but...My wife was in the hospital for two weeks before my daughter was born and then she was in the NICU for 6 weeks after that. The crazy amount of bullshite that we were billed for was insane. Also, despite the OBGYN and hospital being in-network, the hospital Anistiesiologists were not. So, that was $3,500.

After fighting the first couple bills, I just decided frick it. We were going to hit our out of pocket max no matter how much I fought, so I just paid up to my out of pocket max and left the rest to insurance. All totaled, they were billed over $400k...I paid $12k (the ordeal spanned over two calendar years, so I hit the $6k out of pocket max twice )

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there are no good outcomes when it comes to medical bills.