Huntley Anesthesia Associates

Tired of having this provider not negotiating a bill when the hospital and doctor are in network and I do not have a choice to use this Anesthesia provider during surgery.
Full $1,200 bill and they will not adhere to standard negotiated insurance rates like everyone else does in healthcare. I am fully insured and am asked to pay $655.00 out of pocket.
If they agreed to negotiated rate of $600 like "in network" providers, remainder is paid 80% by *** and 20% by me.... not a problem.
OR
If they agreed to negotiated rate of $600 like "out of network" providers, remainder is paid 60% by *** and 40% by me... not a problem.
What a scam to make more money.
If this is not negotiated after the 2nd attempt, I will send a letter to Northwestern Hospital and to my congressman and never use *** Hospital again.
Steve F.

In November 2019, I had surgery to repair a broken arm at *** Hospital in McHenry. The surgeon and facility were excellent. The anesthesiologist was Dr. James Kim. Dr. Kim was very good, but while he is "affiliated" with *** and works under the *** banner, he is part of HUNTLEY ANESTHESIA ASSOCIATES and conveniently "out-of-network" for ***'s own employee PPO. My wife is employed by ***, so our family is covered under the *** Aetna PPO. *** actively encourages its employees to use *** facilities to keep out-of-pocket costs to a minimum. Of course, I had no choice of anesthesiologist for my surgery, and no indication that Dr. Kim was actually with an outside group that did not participate in ***'s PPO. Three months after the surgery, we were sent a bill for $2000 for Dr. Kim's fee (in excess of what the PPO had already paid). We contacted HAA to inquire, and were promptly sent a collection notice threatening legal action if we did not make immediate payment. Obviously we were appalled, and had no choice but to pay. But please, take heed. If you have a procedure scheduled through *** that requires anesthesia, double-check who your anesthesiologist is, what group they are with and what insurance they take. Do not assume that being "affiliated" with *** means they are part of the same insurance network. At the very least, be prepared to get hit with extra and unexpected "out-of-network" charges, as we did for anesthesia. It may be unethical, but apparently is not uncommon.