Oak Park Dad With Cancer Battles Health Insurance Provider After Getting $40,000 Bill for Surgery

Anthem Blue Cross health insurance Aaron McManus TikTok viral video

By Joel Brussels , Parent Herald Nov 16, 11:26 am

Photo: (Photo : STEPHANE DE SAKUTIN/AFP via Getty Images)

A dad from Oak Park is in the fight of his life, waging a battle not only with cancer but also against his health insurance provider.

Aaron McManus said a claim for his tumor-removal surgery came in at $40,000. That is $40,000 for McManus' portion of the bill; according to him, his insurance would not budge.

The patient decided to go on TikTok and push back against his health insurance provider via a post on the social media platform. McManus' video about the expensive claims was up to more than 70,000 views on Tuesday. His TikTok account is called "Aaron Won't Shut Up", and McManus said he wanted to live up to its name.

McManus shocked to find out he had renal carcinoma

He never expected the positive response that he got from netizens. McManus said he had a mountain of medical mail that began accumulating after he felt sick in June. He assumed it was some infection, and they wanted him to get a CT scan that day, so he did.

The result shocked him as it showed he had renal carcinoma. McManus recalled being told that he had cancer and that he should take care of this now. Doctors told him this was a football-sized tumor and he needed to act now.

McManus wasted no time getting treatment, undergoing surgery to remove the tumor a few weeks later. McManus left Gottlieb Hospital in Melrose Park cautiously optimistic about the tumor that the doctors had just removed.

He said that when doctors removed the tumor, it had clear margins, and they did not see any sign of spread. It was a good sign for McManus and his doctors that he was on the road to recovery.

McManus wages battle against Anthem Blue Cross

With one battle down, the next fight started when McManus' claim for the surgery came in. He was shocked that he was charged $5,800 for supplies, nearly $4,000 for room and board, and $2,400 for pharmacy.

The list of expenses did not stop there, with the hospital telling McManus that his responsibility was $40,000. He couldn't believe what he had just heard, telling them it was huge money. McManus filed an appeal with Anthem Blue Cross, but his health insurance provider denied him.

That was the moment McManus decided to share his story on TikTok. He made a video filled with special effects. In the clip, he said he was not about to mess around with this cancer. He added that he does not want to die as his kid needs him.

McManus told CBS 2 he got a phone call later that day by the time it hit 50,000 people, with the caller telling him that they had been dealing with nothing but him all day.