Here is Miss Claudia's report on her plan to chop out the first $30,000 of that $51K bill:

I have some good news. I called [the hospital and spoke with Dxxx, the supervisor of Blue Cross Blue Shield (BCBS) insurance for the facility. I asked for a corrected bill reflecting that the covered surgery was performed on 9/13/2012 (not 9/14 as billed), and admission to the facility was on the same day. Dxxx told me that this corrected bill is already 'in the works' and will be filed with BCBS. I asked when I could follow up regarding the payment of the claim. She expected this payment to be finalized around mid March.

Whap! Slash! ZAP!

~S~