What if they don't even come into the room? I experienced this incredible phenomenon a couple years ago after taking my son to the ER while out of state on vacation. We were there for a few hours to have a very horror movie-esc swollen lymph node looked at. He needed a CT scan to confirm that it was not an abscess and some IV antibiotics for strep. The doctor and nurses were great, I paid up front, and additionally provided insurance. Seemed like everything went smoothly. Three months later we received a bill for $2500 from a doctor we had not seen. Insurance had adjusted it from $3800. Perhaps he was the attending physician and the doctor we saw consulted with him. I have no idea and no one told me anything about it.

My wife, being the litigious trial attorney that she is, sent the physician's group a letter disputing the bill, requesting documentation that this doctor did in fact work on my son's case, and putting them on notice that she would fight them on principle over the amount of the bill. A couple of weeks later we got a letter stating that despite the fact that the charges were in fact valid, they would adjust the amount owed to $0.

A friend I related this to commented, "yup, they just wrote you off because there are so many more people that they can go after and not fight with that it just isn't worth it to them."

What a sad commentary on healthcare in America.