Went to a hospital in network owe hundreds more ! Any advice to get the bill down ?

A few months ago I was having extreme pain in my calf for days . I was overthinking, but worried about a blood clot so I went to the nearest urgent care . They told me at check in they didn’t take my insurance so I would have to pay $150 to be seen. I was already there so I paid it. The dr did a thorough exam and said I should have an ultra sound of my calf to rule out any clots. She said they could do it there but their price for out of network/uninsured price was 450.00. I said if I couldn’t get an appointment with an in network doctor I would come back but since I have insurance I should utilize it. So I made an appointment with an in network office for the ultra sound.. give them all the info from the referral and why it was needed. I go to my appointment and the lady at the front desk says my insurance company won’t approve the referral so they will have to admit me to their urgent care to get it done . So I’m assuming ( my fault ) since I know it’s in network I’ll at least have some coverage. I am there for maybe 45 minutes they do the ultra sound the dr doesn’t see anything thank god and shows me some stretches to do . Fast forward 4 months I just got 2 bills from my insurance company.. one for the ER visit for 1450.00 and one for the ultra sound 375.00 . So it would have cost me less to go to an out of network doctor and just pay cash ? Just wondering if anyone knows a way to get this bill to be less or if I should contact my insurance company and see? We pay 1,400.00 a month for insurance we get punished if we use ? This is crazy to me.

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submitted by /u/SnooSketches568
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