E.T.
I do medical billing for a doctors office - I feel your pain. Dealing with insurance companies is no fun - you end up talking to 5 different people that tell you 5 different things, and none of them make any sense half the time! You can ask your insurance company if there is an appeals department. Most companies have these, and you can write a letter stating your case and that you were not informed the doctor was out of network. I had to write one of these for an ER visit my insurance co said was not "emergent" enough to warrant me taking my child to the ER. I wrote a letter of appeal, and included a letter from my primary doctor stating that she instructed me to take my son to the ER, and it ended up getting paid for. I am not saying this will guarantee they pick up the bill, but it's worth a try. This is fairly common, though. A lot of anesthesiologists are non-par with most insurance companies. This way they do not have to contract with the ins. company to accept a lower rate. Good luck!