Medical Bill Sent to Collections, provider never sent a claim to insurance—how to handle this

I had an emergency surgery in the spring, and was in the process of obtaining COBRA coverage. I didn’t have it fully in place during the procedure, but it was retroactively applied, and I provided everyone with my insurance information after the fact.

Everything seemed to process through insurance, or so I thought. Apparently the surgeon never sent a claim.

I even told them of the issue about not having my insurance ID/policy info during my surgery, but I did explain at my follow up I now had that information and filled it out on the forms in office. They also said they would obtain the information from the hospital, as well.

Apparently none of this was done. I’ve never received a bill until this collections notice.

Now I’m not sure how to handle this as a claim needs to be filed, and because I met my deductible with the hospital, I should owe the surgeon zero because my out of pocket max and deductible have been satisfied.

I don’t even know where to start. I’ve never had a collections issue in my life, and I’m very panicked. I’ve been told by a few people I can only talk to collections now that the bill has been sent to them, but clearly they are not going to file a claim with my insurance. I truly do not know what to do.

I appreciate any advice as I’m extremely panicked.