Letting the invoice for my office visit go to collections?

Long story short: I went for a physician visit under UCLA Health on 3/1/24. I didn't do any testing and I even asked the nurses multiple times if I'll be billed for the visit. They told me insurance would cover it so I proceeded for a 10 min talk with the doctor regarding my symptoms and that was it. They tried charging me around $887 for the visit and I've been going back and forth with them for the past 4 months.

The billing department reviewed the invoice and got it down to $500 but refuses to go any lower. They told me I can fill out a hardship application (when I receive it) and they also told me I could be sent to collections but my credit score won't be affected.

If I'm not eligible for the hardship application and I'm required to pay the $500, do I let it go to collections and work with them? It's absurd that I'm being billed this amount for a 10 min visit and I wanna get this over with.

submitted by /u/2point9AIDSBOW
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