$2k anticipated bill for accidentally going out of network for lab work – help?

I accidentally went out of network for lab work, to a Quest inside a grocery store instead of a LabCorp, in Dec 2022 in Colorado. It was definitely a mistake as I wanted to get labs in before I went out of state the next day and in my haste told my new in-network doctor that my preferred lab center was Quest instead of LabCorp, then that same day went and got the labs done.

I submitted an appeal to my insurance to treat it as in-network because I had been to Quest before and it counted as in network (however, this was for another in-network doctor who has a Quest lab inside their facilities, which I can imagine being treated differently), however that appeal was denied. I have not yet received a bill from Quest but in my EOB it says I’ll owe over $2k.

What are my options to get this bill covered as in-network (best case scenario) or something else to get it reduced? One option I was thinking of was to make another appeal to my health insurance company with more information based on the below:

I have an email from Quest saying I am participating in Quest Easy Pay and the amount I should pay for the labwork would not be over $50. Looking at this email more thoroughly though it’s worded in such a way that this is just a hold on my credit card until the claim has been processed by my insurance. This was not explained to me at the time of service and I was not given a ‘true’ estimate of how much the procedure will cost. However, part of the reason for my grievance being denied is because it’s my responsibility to know who is in-network and who is not before deciding on using a provider.

Also there is a law in Colorado stating that healthcare providers must provide you with a “good faith estimate” on healthcare procedure costs before those procedures are done, which did not happen in my case. I made another boneheaded mistake later that month for more labs and initially went to Quest – the lab technician there told me up front that the new labwork would cost me a lot as Quest is out of network for me, and this is when I discovered this previous mistake and filed the grievance. All of this seems pretty flimsy though.

That likely leaves me with trying to negotiate a potentially reduced rate and payment plan with Quest, unless there are other options I haven’t considered. I’d really like to avoid this but I suppose this is what happens when you go out of network. Thanks for making it this far and please let me know if I can provide additional information!