I don't agree with the last point and I think this thread is evidence of that. We cannot make sense of the myriad of bills we get from all the different provide

I don't agree with the last point and I think this thread is evidence of that. We cannot make sense of the myriad of bills we get from all the different providers, particularly since many or all of them are also being dealt with by our insurance and may have already been negotiated by the time we get the bills in the mail. To that point, I went to the ER a few months ago and I've probably received ten or so mailings for unpaid bills, only one of which I actually ended up owing, but my insurance didn't make the claims visible until they were settled which was months after the fact. To make matters worse, I can still log in and pay bills which were settled by my insurance. And I've received bills in the mail -- late I assume -- after they were paid by me or settled by insurance, confounding matters further.