Regardless of whether they can ultimately fix the problem, bringing regulators and/or state legislators into the conversation is often enough to make providers

Regardless of whether they can ultimately fix the problem, bringing regulators and/or state legislators into the conversation is often enough to make providers and insurers get a lot more reasonable (I mean, the figures involved still won't actually be reasonable, but more reasonable, at least) in a hurry, because regulators and legislators are annoying enough to deal with that they'd really rather not. But all of this means you're probably gonna lose the equivalent of a work week or two of hours playing go-between with everyone involved, largely sitting on hold on hospital billing department and insurer phone lines. Record everything because they all have a habit of "losing" their own fucking records. Reference numbers aren't enough, they'll say they can't find it—record the calls (check your state laws and make sure you comply, which may require nothing in some states, or may require your notifying each person who comes on the line in others)