Prescription for medical equipment

Hi. I work at a large research university and our HMO health insurance is managed by Aetna. Our network is basically the university medical network which includes several hospitals and outpatient clinics across the area. We pay $25 for a PCP visit or urgent care, $45 for specialist, and $125 for emergency care (waived if admited).

My family has been using this for years and we never saw a bill other than the co-pays.

This morning my wife went to one of the outpatient clinics for urgent care due to a possible broken wrist. She paid the $25 co-pay, talked to the doctor, had a few x-rays. Thankfully it was just a sprained wrist. They gave her a wrist and thumb brace, along with a pink slip from a billing company called Breg filled by the doctor. On the back it listes retail price for the brace as $315 but says that insurance will likely cover most of it and I should talk to my insurance.

I imagine I'll get a bill in the mail and then have to file a claim with my insurance, though I have a bit of hope that the university clinic will contact my insurance directly.

Should I just wait for a bill or preemptively act and call my insurance?

I never filled a claim before so I'm unsure on how to act here.

submitted by /u/makakeza
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