Hospital Woes

You may recall way back when after Lily's birth how difficult our experience was with the hospital where she was born. We were treated very badly by the hospital staff (they wouldn't let us see her because we weren't her "parents" even though the papers had been signed, they didn't give us any of the freebies they give other moms, they wouldn't dismiss Lily from the hospital until all of their "mothers" had been checked out...so many things happened that I don't even want to get started again because it makes me crazy to even think of it again) and a month or two after her birth, we were double charged for her birth. Now, our agency requires that you pay every single bit of the medical bills before you leave the state. I have receipts. Everything was paid for. Our insurance company was also billed and they ended up picking up Lily's portion of the hospital bill, so EIGHT months ago, we should've gotten nearly $450 back from the hospital. We weren't told that. Instead, in November, the hospital called us telling us we were about to be turned over to a collection agency because we hadn't paid our bill. WHAT? Um...you mean all the receipts I have in my possession appeared out of thin air? So, we've been in touch with the agency and with the hospital. The hospital emailed me in Jan. telling me they had everything figured out and that our check would be arriving. It's now mid March. I've emailed and called until I'm blue in the face and our contact says her hands are tied. As a credit to our fantastic agency, they are furious and are doing all they can to help us. How can this happen? If they have admitted, in writing, that they owe us money, how do we not have the check yet? We're considering contacting a lawyer, but that would probably cost nearly what we're owed. And it's really not about the money. Heaven knows, that's a drop in the bucket after what the adoption ended up costing, but it's the principle of the thing. We had to pay every single cent before we were cleared to return home. We were treated horribly and this is just the icing on the cake. Truly there's a part of me that wants to sue the pants off of them for this. Maybe they could pick up the entire tab for our next adoption. :) Excuse the vent, but after speaking yet again to our agency contact, I'm beyond frustrated with this. THIS is why our health care system needs overhauled!!! ***stepping off soap box now***