Help! Went to a specialist while I was uninsured without knowing it. What are my options?

TL;DR: Accidentally saw a cardiologist while not covered by insurance, was not informed I was not covered, did not receive an estimate, got a bill for $800. What do?

Context: I turned 26 on September 21st. I had been having heart palpitations following getting the Covid booster and they were freaking me out, so I went to urgent care, then my PCP, who then referred me to a cardiologist. The first two appointments were before my birthday, then the appointment with the cardiologist happened to land on September 23rd. I had read somewhere (and must have misunderstood) that my coverage under my parents' insurance would go through the end of September. I already had my new insurance set up for October 1st so I didn't think there would be a gap in coverage. My visit included an EKG and an echocardiogram. Yesterday, I got a bill for $800. Confused, I call BCBS (old provider), who confirmed that my coverage did in fact end on the 22nd, so I happened to go to a specialist within the 10 day window I wasn't covered out of the entire year.

Question: When I went to the cardiologist's office, I gave the receptionist my BCBS insurance card to get registered in the system. They did not raise any flags that I wasn't covered. I've read a bit about the No Surprises Act as it regards good faith estimates for self-pay customers, but I can't seem to find anything about whether it was the provider's responsibility (legally) to verify my insurance so that I knew I was self-pay. Obviously if I knew I was going to be paying I would have asked for an estimate, and promptly turned my ass around and walked out the door when they said the amount. But as I thought I was covered, and the provider didn't tell me otherwise, I didn't receive an estimate.

Everyone (my mom + BCBS) so far has just told me to try to negotiate with the cardiologist's office, so that's my plan. But I'm not a great negotiator, so I'd love to have some real hard evidence that this mistake was partly their fault (if that is the case), besides just trying to give a sob story and saying it was an accident.

Thoughts?

https://ift.tt/Xctr6bg Submitted October 11, 2024 at 04:08AM by zsyds https://ift.tt/br6kIWa