Denver -- More than 60 percent of all bankruptcies are from medical bills. It may not be surprising since thousands of people do not have insurance. Bankruptcy for some people is the only way to survive. But even with insurance, people are finding themselves in trouble.

That's what happened to Chris Hinds.

“I am trying to heal,” said Hinds. “I am trying to get back to work. But I have to deal with the frustration of all of this healthcare stuff and it is driving me crazy.”

In August of 2008, Hinds was heading home from taking photos at the Democratic National Convention.

“I don't remember the accident,” said Hinds.

Somehow he lost control of his motorcycle. Doctors said he would most likely not survive the night.

“My back was totaled,” said Hinds. “I broke 12 vertebrae.”

A week later he woke up at Denver Health to learn he was paralyzed from the chest down. But that was just the beginning of his problems.

Hinds had a job. He had health insurance. In fact he had no problem paying his medical bills. Yet months later, Hinds said he started getting phone calls from a collections agency.

“They just kept calling,” said Hinds.

It turns out Denver Health, like many hospitals, has two separate billing systems -- one for hospital charges and one for the physicians. Hinds paid the hospital bill, but not the physician bill because he said he never received it. Then when he would call Denver Health to resolve the matter, they couldn’t find his bills.

“I asked them to look me up by my name, my full legal name, my date of birth, my Social Security number and they couldn't find me at all,” said Hinds. “In fact, they couldn’t even find a record of the bill that I had paid.”

Frustrated, Hinds contacted 7news, not knowing where else to go. When 7News called Denver Health to ask about the bill, Denver Health said Hinds had a $0 balance.

Denver Health said it typically takes about 18 months to resolve in depth cases like this.

“Eighteen-months seems a little excessive,” said Holly Knapp, of Medical Billing Advocates of the Rockies.

Knapp helps patients settle medical bills. She said people cannot trust medical bills.

Hinds was sent to collections just three weeks after he did not respond to the hospital’s bill. However Denver Health maintains they were working with Hinds throughout the entire process.

“There are a lot of people being sent to collections these days,” said Knapp.

To make matters worse for Hinds, collections does not accept health insurance.

Two days after 7News got involved, without explanation his insurance company paid about 56 percent of the bill and Denver Health wrote off thousands of dollars. Denver Health said the timing was purely coincidental.

“They figure if they get a bill then they owe it and they pay it,” said Knapp. “Unfortunately they shouldn't have to pay more than they owe, but that is just the nature of healthcare.”

Knapp said people pay bills all the time that they do not owe.

After final negotiations, Hinds owed nothing when it came to his outstanding balance on the physician side of his bill.

“According to a Harvard study, 90 percent of hospital bills contain errors,” said Knapp.

Because of that, Knapp said patients must fight for their rights.

In the end, no one knows what caused this problem. Denver Health was unable to explain and Hinds’ insurance company, which is now Cigna won’t comment.

Hinds is thankful his ordeal is over. He just wants to make sure that other patients don’t have to go through what he did.

Besides always asking for an itemized bill, Knapp said people who do not have insurance need to tell the hospital they are paying the bill themselves. She said it’s standard practice to reduce the bill by 40 to 50 percent.

“Patients have the right to the same discounts insurance companies get,” said Knapp.

For information on medical billing advocates, visit http://www.billadvocates.com/