+1 on scouring both what you are billed for and what your insurance is being billed for.

After being told by: 1) the doctor, 2) the lab tech, AND 3) the office manager of the doctor's office that we would NOT have to pay a co-pay ("not ever charged") for coumadin blood tests done at the doctor's office which were done when we were not seen by the doctor, we were later billed for the co-pay. The "billing office" decided that it was allowable under our insurance since it was an "office visit" (as we physically went into the office, were seen by the lab tech), that we had to pay a co-pay. They were paid for the lab test also, by the insurance. Now, if we had gone to the local office of one of the big labs, insurance would have paid the same lab fee, but we would not have incurred any doctor office co-pay.

When we were questioning the Doctor's billing office about this issue, we were told that "medical billing is complex and you don't understand it.

We are fighting these co-pay charges. Currently, we have a consumer complaint in mediation at the State of Maryland Attorney General's office over these, what I think, are bogus charges. I also think that because we asked, and were told that there were no co-pays for these visits, they waived any right to charge us for them later.

Yes, mistakes are made, and medical billing is complex. But at some point, you have to recognize that some people and organizations are not to be trusted.