<prompt> Human: I went to the ER by ambulance last year with a suspected heart attack. After many tests, it was declared pain of unknown origin and deemed not a heart attack. All of the various tests done while in the ER were sent to my insurance company as emergency procedures except the one from the man who signed off on my radiology scans. Somehow, his overseas billing company billed it to my insurance as non-emergency, so my insurance denied it. I called the radiologists billing company monthly. First they said they would review it, then they said it was submitted correctly. Then they said they would get back to me, but instead they sent it to a collection agency. When I called the Dr. directly, his office manager said he billed it as it was ordered from the ER. All the other tests were also ordered from the ER and there were no problems with coding. Do I have any recourse, or do I need to just suck up and pay the bill. Since it was denied, the discount from my insurance does not apply either, so I will have to pay the entire amount.  <response>: Radiologist here. Billing errors are common and your radiologist usually has no idea this is happening behind the scenes. If you get health insurance through your employer, contact your hr department to help you with your appeal. It needs to be coded correctly and paid correctly through your insurance. Dont just give in and pay it. Im a physician myself and we have had 4-5 billing errors or insurance errors in the past few years. 