I have 76k of medical debt for emergency ectopic surgery I needed during the 20 days I had no insurance.

Alright so my situation completely exhibits my lifelong bad luck and I’m in desperate need of directions and help.
I don’t even know where to start but I found out I was pregnant in June when I was in the middle of switching jobs, last day working at the hospital was June 24th. My first travel nurse contract was going to start July 20th because I had planned a trip to Florida July 4th to stay with my friend. Well a little more than a week before I was supposed to go to Florida I started to bleed, I assumed maybe it was just a chemical pregnancy. After 7 days the bleeding isn’t getting any lighter, it’s fresh blood, and my right side starts to hurt. Not horrible but it’s bad enough I notice it. Stressed about going to Florida with an ectopic pregnancy and not being treated I messaged an OB that I worked with to please see me quickly before I go out of state.

Well what do you know, I’m bleeding into my abdomen and she tells me she can’t visualize a fetus but with the test still coming up positive and the bleeding into my abdomen its pointing towards that. She suggests I go into the ER. It is now July 3rd, just realizing my job, the hospital I’m currently at, has probably already gotten rid of my insurance on July 1st. So now I’m faced with, die or get the surgery in America with no health insurance. I asked about methotrexate being an option and she basically said well it’s bad enough you are bleeding into your abdomen so it’s too late for that. Surgery is either now or later when it’s worse. So I get the surgery. Was told I was lucky I came in when I did because the baby was basically actively delivering out of my tube.

Now I have a 76k bill, 37k with a self pay discount 😐 so it’s either pay 50% upfront or 1,180$ a month until 2029. I was living in Colorado as a staff nurse prior, meaning high living cost and lower nurse pay. I have called them numerous times and I don’t qualify for any charity or forgiveness because NOW I make too much. But I’m a contract worker, this is my first contract, I duplicate expenses and my contracts won’t always be this high. I took this contract specifically to pay off my debt.

I have called and tried to dispute charges like IV insertion being 900$ when I compare it to the maximum allowed amount charge with insurances being 4$ they basically just told me they contract with insurance so they don’t really care what they would accept from them. Said I didn’t have insurance so this is what I should pay. Told me to apply for forgiveness (I was already told I will get denied) or let it go to collections. I said it’s not like I don’t want to pay anything but 1,080$ a month is insane. They won’t work with me at all on the payment or lowering the charges. I’ve already tried disputing duplicate charges but the amount is still insane. I made an entire spread sheet on how much each item would cost if they were charging someone with insurance and it’s insane. And the cumulative amount between what insurance would pay AND the insured would be around 15-19k (couldn’t find accurate medication comparisons which is why it’s a range) but they simply don’t care and want to charge me the insane inflated rate for every single item.

Again I’m not trying to get out of paying anything I understand they saved me and need to be compensated but even insurance companies and the insured wouldn’t pay this amount cumulatively.

I don’t really know what else to do they basically just told me pay it at the price they gave me or let it go to collections. I’ve always been able to do payment plans and set how much I could pay each month but they don’t even give me an option.
Any advice?