I had a medical bill sent to collections and I think it’s unfair.

Ok so I delivered my baby last November. I was on CHIP Perinatal (to add: I don’t understand how health insurance works and I don’t have anyone to ask for guidance, so I had to do apply for this basically by myself and I get that there can be mistakes from my side) and to my understanding everything was covered. The day before I got discharged we were told by the insurance lady at the hospital that everything was covered and before leaving the hospital we faxed a form (3038P) to the health department, which we were asked to do so my labor could be covered.

8 months later, in July, I received a bill for $8,800 from an anesthesiology place and I called my insurance company. The lady was very helpful and said it was a mistake and I shouldn’t have been billed, so she called them to clarify that. After she called, she told me they said they would fix this within the next 30 days and if anything happens after that, just call the insurance again.

Next day I receive a call from the anesthesiology place and I tell them what happened the previous day. This lady was a bit aggressive and she basically told me I have to pay. I decided to wait the 30 days and if they kept calling after that, I would contact the insurance company.

The 30 days go by and the calls stop. They tried to contact me maybe 3 times in this time frame.

Well this week I got a letter from collections and they are trying to collect my debt (I’m also unfamiliar with these things). They say I can dispute this but I don’t know where to start or if I’m even wrong.

I’m nervous about this since these are things I’m completely unfamiliar with. I can speak English but I’m a very insecure person when I do, so I want to at least be sure of what I’m doing before I do something.

Forgot to mention I live in Texas.