<prompt> Human: So about 3 weeks ago I had a hernia repair done. After meeting with the surgeon, speaking with the scheduler and my insurance, I was told that my surgery was going to be completely paid for by the insurance, as I had already met my deductible and my companys insurance is pretty good.A couple of weeks after the surgery, everything got billed out and just like I was told, I owed nothing. However, a couple of days ago I saw that a new claim popped up and that I owed 2,702 for a service I didnt know what it was. I checked my mail and there was a letter from American Surgical Professionals saying that it was determined that surgical assistant services were necessary to the procedure. The letter also said that as a courtesy to me they bill my insurance carrier first, and surprise, they said they werent paying, so I have to incur all costs. I was never aware of any of this, nobody told me this could happen and I was completely out and had 0 control over what was going on during my surgery. Why is this a thing? Isnt this completely illegal? Is there any way I can fight this? I appreciate any help.EDIT: Forgot to mention, the surgery was done at an in-network hospital with an in-network surgeon.EDIT2: Since Ive seen many people asking, this happened in Texas.EDIT3: This blew a lot more than I was expecting, I apologize if Im not responding to all comments, since I am getting notifications every two seconds. I do appreciate everyones help in this, though! Thank you very much, you have all been extremely helpful!EDIT4: I want to thank everyone who has commented on this thread with very helpful information. Next week, I will get in touch with my insurance and I will call the hospital and the surgeon as well. I will also send letters to all three parties concerned and will fight this as hard as I can. I will post an update once everything gets resolved. Whichever way it gets resolved...Once again, thank you everyone for your very helpful comments!Assistant: Check and see the bill is real. Google the company it came from and call that not the one listed on the invoice. Human: The company is real, I already googled him. I received the letter but havent actually received a bill from them. I do see from my EOB claims that I owe them 2,700, but Ive yet to receive the bill for that.  <response>: Like others have stated, until you get a bill dont stress. A lot of times Hospital groups will tack on extra charges for insurance to pay, or decline, and will write off anything not paid by an insurance company if it wasnt authorized. Source - I train Hospital billing teams.Example - I had an 8000 dollar ekg reading that my EOB states I was responsible for, but it was all written off and I never got a bill. 