My wife was given out of network OB for her delivery in an in-network hospital – Never given a choice – What to do?

We had our delivery in an Aetna in-network hospital, the same hospital we had been going to for all our prepartum appointments. We’ve recently received a $4,665.94 bill for the OB who did our delivery, and it turns out that the OB was out of network. Of course, we were never informed of this, never given a choice. My wife was in fucking labor after all.

My wife called Aetna and explained that we were never given a choice. Representative on phone sounded understanding, said that she’d try to “fix it”. But it’s been a couple weeks now and no change. What can we or anyone else in this situation do other than hope the insurance company bills it as in network? Honestly, I blame the provider more than the insurer here, but what can we do?

It’s hard to imagine a better illustration of the inhumanity of the US healthcare system – a woman in labor given no choice about a doctor that will bill her almost $5,000 to deliver her firstborn. And this is when we are supposed to be in the best situation with good plans provided by our employers! It’s maddening.

What can we do? Any legal action we can take if Aetna continues to stall?