Hopefully, I recovered quickly, with the good advice of the doctor who took care of me and the help of the medicine I had to buy after my visit.

Now, the interesting part is that the health center didn't ask me to pay anything when I left them, although I did state clearly that I was not living in the USA and that I didn't have insurance with them. The person in charge of taking my address apparently was not aware that they may need a special process to deal with me if they wanted anything from me. I knew when I left the place that something was not being taken care of with the due amount of exceptionality.

Arjan Ederveen states very well my feelings at that time:

Ik voelde wel dat er iets was, maar wat dat dan was, dat was me niet duidelijk. Wel dat er iets was, maar wat dat was? Dat wist ik niet.

Well, I eventually realized. I never received a bill, and neither did my health insurance. I basically walked away from the USA with a negative balance at a health center, and they didn't care — or they didn't know how to deal with it — and I couldn't care less.

Because I'm a good boy and I was raised to be honest, I called the health center today, to ask if I owed them anything. They redirected me to their billing services, where I could speak with a very sweet person who thrived to help me. Unfortunately, something was amiss:

— (me) I'm calling from the Netherlands, I've been to one of your health centers in Wisconsin, and I never received a bill for the services I received. Do I owe you anything?

— (her) thanks for your request, sir. Are you calling to request your balance?

— no, I'm calling because I think I owe you something and I'd like you to tell me how you want me to pay you.

— oh, ok. May I ask you your last name, first name, date of birth, street name and telephone number, please?

— sure, here they are [ ... ].

— thank you sir. Your balance is 159.60. Is this right?

— I have no idea. When I left the health center, they told me I would receive the bill by mail but I didn't. My insurance company is going to take care of it, so I honestly don't care too much. However, I'd like to receive the bill.

(rumbling sounds)

— oh, indeed, it looks like we don't have a reference for your insurance. Would you mind reminding me what is the name of your insurance company?

— well, I'm not sure it's going very useful to you, but it's called CZ ...

— let me see.

(rumbling sounds)

— well...

— as I said, it's a local company and you probably don't have them in your records. Actually, I contacted them and they think it's best that you send me the bill, then I pay you directly, then I claim the amount to them. That's the reason why I'm calling today.

— oh, I see.

(rumbling sounds)

— ok, may I ask you your address again?

— sure. As it's a bit complicated, let me spell it for you. First, the street name is as follows - (spelling) - then you put the street number, which is ..., then the postcode is ..., then the city is Rotterdam. In the Netherlands.

— what is your state?

— well, there are no states in the Netherlands. It's a country.

— oh, I see.

(rumbling sounds)

— ok sir. Thank you sir. Can you confirm, I put this long name, then the number, then the zip code which you called a postcode, then this city name and then the Netherlands?

— yes, that is correct.

— N-E-T-H-E-N-A-N-D ... I'm sorry, how do you spell it again?

— N-E-T-H-E-R-L-A-N-D-S. It's a country.

— oh, right. Thank you. I will have this in the mail shortly for you. Is there anything else I can do for you?

...

Well, at this point I am just hoping that she got the zip code right, and that she will put enough stamps for the mail to get outside of the USA borders. The mere thought of calling them again is frightening me.