Open Question: is there an easy way to read/understand medical bills+insurance?

If you go to the doctor multiple times obviously you will receive multiple statements from your insurance company and from the doctor. I have such a hard time reading and understanding them (knowing what to pay and what not to pay). The reason I ask is because the first thing I will receive is the statement from the insurance which shows the amount they paid and what I owe, then the bill from the doctor comes (remember there are multiple visits) and it shows that I owe a much larger amount. Then I will receive the next statements and the amount on the more recent statement is less than the previous one...it's for this reason that I hate to ever go pay anything because it's such a hassle dealing with the insurance and I'm sure they won't pay you back if you paid something (the insurance company's portion). help?