My insurance company denined my claim for procedure?

i have hmo i followed all the rules, got refferals ect. they replaced my pacemaker, this was preplanned and subjected to the ins co. now the ins co says no payment because my employer premimums have not been paid now i have a 125,000 bill from the hospital , if there was a problem with the ins, why wasnt i told before the procedure as i would have opted out. i cant pay this amount because of my age near retirement the ins co told me to contact the marketing rep the hospitial says they want to be paid, my employer says dont worry now i am lost i dont have much money and dont want to lose it shouldnt the ins co say the bill will not be honored before they proceed on a recent call they said the ins was reinstated but shouldnt i have been told of the canellation date before hand my stomach is turning because of this but i dont know what to do the hospitail bill is due dec 27 2010 and the min payment is all of 125,000 plus. where do i start any help for me?