As of August 23, I have received and responded to 27 bills from the hospital this year. It’s about a co-pay they didn’t credit, or a mistake made by the new office assistant to the surgeon who did my shoulder repair in putting down the wrong codes for four office visits. Sometimes, the insurer throws the hospital a curve, rejecting claims that the hospital routinely expects to be paid without problem. I discovered, for instance, that certain services can demand a facilities fee, a kind of rent on the office where the provider ministers to the patient. It’s a bit like in the movies when the prostitute expects the John to pay for the room, except in the hospital, nobody tells the John.

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