My wife was feeling ill a few months back and visited a hospital. The doctor recommended meeting with a physical therapist.

After her first and second appointments, she asked how much was owed, and was told that insurance covered the therapy and equipment costs. So she continued going for a total of 5 visits.

Fast forward to today. We just got a bill in the mail for $1300 for the visits. I checked my insurance provider website (UHC) for other claims, and it looks like we'll be expecting another ~$460 bill in the near future. The claims on the website indicate that insurance didn't pay for any of it (but did provide a plan discount).

Fortunately we have ~$4600 in an HSA, so we should be able to pay for it if necessary. But we're both frustrated at the crazy costs. If we knew it wasn't being paid for by insurance, she would not have visited so many times. It seems either UHC lied to the hospital about covering the visits, or the hospital never checked and just lied to us.

Are we on the line for these bills? If so, are we going to have to pay the full $1700? Like I said, my wife never would have visited so many times if we knew it was going to cost that much money. At the very least, how do I negotiate this cost down?

Thanks for any help!