Should I Have To Pay?!

I’ve been dealing with a complicated situation regarding my employer provided health insurance plan and some claims that I have been deemed responsible for. For the last year, I have been trying to find a way to resolve this, that won’t cost me over 10,000 dollars in medical bills. So here it goes:

For the record this was my first time having my own insurance. Until that job I was still eligible to be enrolled in my parents policy

I am 27, and reside in CA

April 21, 2023 I was officially terminated by a former employer, due to a disagreement with my manager. It started in the afternoon of the 19th, and he sent me home and was told to expect a call from HR. Later that night he had me help one of my accounts, and said he would think about it and let me know the next day. The next day I didn’t hear from him and was told by another manager to continue working as normal, since I hadn’t heard from my manager by then. The morning of the 21st he called and said yeah we’ll just go our separate ways.

I expected my insurance to terminate the end of the month. On May 6, 2023 I fell and hurt my foot. We passed hospital on the way home and my gf who’s a nurse suggested we stop and check to see if my insurance is still active since she thought it was more than just a bruised foot. I agreed and before being admitted they ran my insurance info and said it was active, I would just be responsible for a 100 dollar copay. I agreed to be admitted and get treatment. The insurance paid for the claims and I paid my copay. Similar instance happened in July, and again same situation with checking before being admitted and insurance paid for the claims.

I didn’t hear anything again until October, when I received a letter from Blue Shield with a copy of what was sent to the provider. It was a request for repayment due to overpayment. I called them and was informed that my employer didn’t notify them to terminate my policy until October of 2023 and they had them retroactively terminate it to 4/30/23.

Now the providers are billing me for the treatments and I was under the impression that I had insurance. Had I not I would’ve waited and seen a pcp not gone to the ER!

Is there any way to avoid having to pay for these? I don’t believe I was responsible for the mistake made, which lead me to believe I had active insurance.

Thanks for any help or advice anyone can offer!