Has anyone ever had to pay for medical treatment in America?

ncmc

This may be in the wrong forum, so mods, feel free to move. I'm worried sick at the moment. My husband has a long term illness and when we were in the US recently, he had to be taken to hospital by ambulance and was in hospital for one night for treatment relating to this illness. We had annual travel insurance, but it quite clearly states that pre-existing conditions aren't covered. It sounds so stupid now, but at the time I bought the insurance, my husband was in really good health and I just went for the cheapest cover I could get without reading it through. I feel so stupid and could just kick myself.

Anyway, the inevitable letter arrived yesterday, the insurance company will not cover the claim. I have a relation who is a solicitor and he has advised me not to contact the insurance company or the hospital, that he will deal with everything and try and get the costs reduced. The thing is, I have no idea how much this is likely to cost, you hear stories about how expensive treatment is in the states and my imagination is running wild. I'm worrying myself sick imagining a bill of tens of thousands of dollars. He was only in for one night, but there was also the ambulance and he was sent for x-rays. I know every case is different, but has something like this ever happened to anyone else and if so, how much did it work out costing?

I just feel that if I had a figure in my head, at least I would know and could work toward getting it paid. Some people have been advising us not to pay, but wouldn't it then go on our permanent record and prevent us ever getting back in to the states? That just wouldn't be an option for us. I'd appreciate any feedback or sharing of experience. Thanks in advance.

I should also add, that it was a really nice private hospital, not one of the free county ones and he had a private room for the night.