"I was a little shocked, a little out of breath," said Alex Rodriguez, the patient.
It almost put Alex Rodriguez back in Bronx Lebanon Hospital where he has been seeking treatment for pneumonia and asthma.
"Some people found it funny. I had a little laugh and I was like, "OK, what am I going to do with this bill?'" Rodriguez said.
Hospital officials say, "There was a computer error that occurred from a company that does some of the billing for physicians associated with the hospital."
Rodriguez spoke to a service representative.
"He told me what happened was that they put the invoice number where the amount due was supposed to be, and that it was a system error," Rodriguez said.
When making a call to the billing service, Eyewitness News heard this recording: "Please disregard this statement. You will be receiving a new statement in the mail shortly. We apologize for the inconvenience caused," the message stated.
"The guy told me that he was receiving hundreds of phone calls so it's not just a few people that got a massive bill like that," Rodriguez said.
He believes the bill should be about $300.
Alex lost his doorman's job about a year ago and is on unemployment.
Despite help from a special program at the hospital that helps lower his medical costs, he worries about the bills he must pay.
"I had the bills where it was like $40,000 before so I was like, 'Where is this one coming from? I was a little shocked," Rodriguez said.
The best medicine is knowing he doesn't have to pay it.
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