Quinn Cochran-Zipp went to the emergency room three times with severe abdominal pain before doctors figured out that she had early-stage cancer in the germ cells of her right ovary. After emergency surgery four years ago, the Greeley, Colorado, lab technician is cancer-free.

The two hospitals that treated Cochran-Zipp at the time determined that she qualified for 100% financial assistance, since her income as a college student was extremely low. Not having to worry about the roughly $100,000 in bills she racked up for her care was an enormous relief, she said.

Then she started receiving unexpected bills from doctors who worked at the hospitals but, because they weren't on staff there, didn't have to abide by the facilities' financial assistance policies.

Those bills, which came from spe

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