i saw someone yesterday explaining that she had a broken ankle and the hospital had to wait on insurance because the doctor was in-network but the hospital where they had surgery rights wasn't, and this rigmarole went on for so long that her ankle started to heal incorrectly and then the surgery took way longer
god this is actually triggering for me after going through this recently, getting the fucking runaround NON-STOP while someone close to me is literally dying from her illness, the whole time being in utter disbelief that this is the way this shit "works"
that's one of the many neat ways that you can get treated and then charged millions of dollars instead of the other neat thing where they just refuse to treat you to begin with because your insurance daddy said no.