The flurry of her medical bills has long subsided to the degree that I've largely forgotten the details and lost most of the bitterness. But a couple of interesting twists transpired, so better late than never ...

The most ironic was the ambulance services bill. The insurance company's explanation for denying payment read, "Services not covered on patients of this age."

And, what age would that be, twenty minutes old?! I mean seriously, I would like to know the allowable age range because I can't think of an age that is reasonably excluded from ambulance transport services.

I choked up on the phone with the insurance company representative as I explained that Ella had just been born unexpectedly at home and needed to get to hospital because her red blood cell count was too high ... 'though we didn't exactly know this at the time, it wasn't a fact that influenced the reconsideration at all.

The insurance company representative quickly recognized that the claim had been denied out of hand, so payment was ordered in the full amount of more than $1300.

As for the second twist, the neonatal unit operated, in regards to insurance, as an entity independent from the hospital. So, the hospital's member status in our insurance company did not extend to the hospital's neonatal unit.

As this separate provider sent us bills of $500 per day and more, by registered mail, I explained that we were caught unawares by their non-participating status but, frankly, our circumstances necessitated that we use their facilities because all choice had been removed by their own onsite practitioners. Transfer to a participating facility would have been neither prudent, given Ella's medical condition, nor cost effective.

The company was willing to split the cost with us and I didn't press it because we aren't destitute. For Jeff, it's just the principle of the thing. Well, for me, too. If she had been born at hospital, none of these expenses would have been incurred.