I believe that's the way it works. And then you have to transfer to in network provider as soon as humanly possible (perhaps not as humanely possible...)
One of the linked articles[1] explains it slightly better:
> Surprise medical bills happen when a doctor or other provider who isn’t in a patient’s insurance network is unexpectedly involved in a patient’s care. Patients may go to a hospital that accepts their insurance, for example, but get treatment from emergency room physicians or anesthesiologists who don’t — and who then send patients big bills directly.
I've seen this in my own medical billing: often times, I will get bills (to the insurance) from "providers" I had no (direct) interaction with. And that's the thing: if a in-network provider contracts/vendors/(who knows, I don't know how their business is structured) to some other company, you get billed "randomly". Sometimes I can piece together exactly what action caused it (e.g., okay, that ultrasound is this random charge), but not all the time.
Insurers refuse to help: they claim it's not their problem, as they're not billing you. Providers will claim they know nothing; after all, it isn't them that billed you.
[1]: https://www.nytimes.com/2021/07/01/upshot/surprise-medical-b...
You want to know if a doctor is in network? Good luck, because the insurance company clearly states that they only provide that information on a best effort basis. The doctor can’t answer, as they refer you back to your insurance company.
You want an outpatient surgery? Great! Make sure your doctor and facility is in network, right? Oops, wrong again! You forgot about the anesthesiologist who you can’t pick ahead of time and is rarely in network. Good luck figuring that out later!
It’s intended to wear you down until you’re afraid of your “rating” aka credit score tanking enough that you just pay up.
https://www.cms.gov/nosurprises/ending-surprise-medical-bill...
It’s trivial to be coerced into signing one of these agreements when you’re in a high stress high stakes environment.
> If you get other types of services at these in-network facilities, out-of-network providers can't balance bill you, _unless you give written consent and give up your protections._
Turns out she was out of network, and the cost of the anesthesia on top of my in-network hospital bill was around $1050.