[quote user="NormanH"]In fact I now understand better. I went to the lab and paid the old bill today. The clinic that did the first biopsy last year never settled the bill with the Lab, which normally they should have done. So when the lab got another sample with my Sécu number it came up on their internal records as an unpaid bill. At the same time I had in fact paid the clinic last year, so I had no way of knowing that there was a problem. (I don't know yet if what I paid included the lab work, or it was just left out of the loop) the Lab did in fact do the most recent analysis which was paid directly by a different clinic in which my other Doctor works, and which is a bit more organised administratively, so they weren't as heartless as the letter sounded. They sent me the letter to get their money from the last time. Although I have been in France a long time my British instincts surfaced in the fact that this would never happen in the UK. With the NHS the medical care comes before money.[/quote] Yes health before money in NHS . thats because the State pays the bill. Here the people are self employed.