Advice Needed: Received $2000 bill because provider turned out to not be in network

I had an appointment with a specialist a few months ago. I needed to reschedule and they rescheduled me with another doctor at the office. I went to the rescheduled appointment and had lab work done.

Since I have no out of network benefits, prior to making the appointment I made sure to verify with the office and called my insurance to ensure that the provider was in network. When I had to reschedule the appointment and the office rescheduled me for a different doctor, the receptionist said that the other doctor is in network. However I didn’t call my insurance to make sure and I guess this is where I messed up.

Months later, 2 days ago, I received a bill for about $2000. It says nothing was covered by my insurance so now the responsibility is on me. I call my insurance and they say the provider submitted claims that got denied because the provider is out of network. I explain that I had called beforehand to ensure the provider was in network, and they were able to see the call logs to prove this, but they said that the doctor that I ended up seeing after the rescheduling was not considered in network from the specific office location I went to, despite the office reception saying they were. The doctor is considered in network for all other office locations in my city which is maybe why the office originally said they were.

I’m not sure how to move forward with this situation. I’ve never filed an appeal before but could it be applicable to this situation? Does anyone have any advice on how I could dispute this, or do I have no choice but to pay at this point?

submitted by /u/yellowkrabb
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