Is Black Fungus Treatment covered under Health Insurance?

Although it is not yet classified as an outbreak, as the number of cases continues to grow. It is one of the rarest types of fungal infection that is affecting 1 in 10 lakh people, with a 50% overall mortality rate.

Anti-fungal medicines that are required to treat the Black Fungus infection are costly and at present, the country is facing a shortage. Currently, there is a need for multidisciplinary specialists and to ease the financial burden on the people, especially those who are covered under health insurance plans.

So, the question remains...

Does health insurance cover Black Fungus (Mucormycosis) Infection?

Yes, your existing health insurance plan covers the expenses incurred on Mucormycosis treatment after the completion of 30 days of the waiting period.

In some states like Maharashtra the infection is already covered by the Government’s medical insurance schemes i.e. Mahatma Jyotirao Phule Jan Aarogya Yojana (MJPJAY) and the Pradhan Mantri Jan Aarogya Yojana (PMJAY) as per News 18.

However, you can check with your insurer if it covers the same and what is the waiting period before you can avail of the treatment.

What is Mucormycosis or Black Fungus and how serious it is?

Black fungus infection can occur any time after SARS CoV-2 infection, either during the hospital stay or several days to a couple of weeks after discharge.

India has a huge diabetic population that continues to stay at risk. What adds to that is the irrational use of steroids and antibiotics for Covid-19 patients.

Some of the common COVID-19 symptoms of Black fungus infection include headache, fever, sinus congestion, one side facial swelling, black lesions on the nasal bridge, etc.

From where is it originated?

Mucormycosis (earlier known as Zygomycosis) is a rare but serious fungal infection caused by a group of molds i.e. micromycetes.

What causes Rhino-orbital-cerebral-Mucormycosis is the molds of the order Mucorales. It has a few subgroups like Mucor, Rhizopus, and Rhizomucor that are involved in this fungal infection.

What Does Black Fungus Do?

These fungi invade the adjoining blood vessels, destroy them causing tissue necrosis that can lead to death as well. These molds survive in the surroundings and their spores are also present in the air. They get stuck in the sinuses and the nasal cavity-

• When they reach a favorable milieu they hide within the tissue
• The spores germinate, and as they grow in the nasal cavity they continue destroying the surrounding host tissue, the nasal cavity, and the sinuses. These include the orbital bones, hard palate, and the skull base bones
• Once it enters the eye socket it can result in pain in the eyes, bulging eyes, blindness, and frozen eye movements
• It can also result in brain strokes and bleeds
• Not only this, if the spores travel into the depths of the respiratory system and they can destroy the lung tissue and cause breathing problems
• Further, it can spread through the circulatory system resulting in an existential crisis.

While infection of the brain and the oral cavity are the most common forms of the disease, but the black fungus can also infect the other organs including the gastrointestinal tract, and skin.

Who gets affected by fungal infections?

As mentioned earlier, people with reduced immune response are more susceptible to Mucormycosis. Conditions that reduce our immunity include:

• Diabetic patients with high blood sugar levels i.e. diabetic ketoacidosis create a favorable environment for these fungal infections. Another reason is decreased levels of immunity
• Both diabetic and non-diabetic patients on Steroid medication witness a rise in blood sugar levels and thus reduced immune response
• Blood malignancies, and patients on immune suppressants who underwent stem cell therapies and organ transplantation fall under the high-risk category
• Patients on deferoxamine (that causes iron overdose) are also susceptible
• Anyone with burns, trauma, and malnourishment remains vulnerable to Black fungus infection post-COVID-19 recovery or during the treatment

One way to curtail the surge of this infection is to make sure that Coronavirus patients — both after recovery and during the treatment — are administered the right dose of the steroids and for the right duration.

What is of utmost importance is for people to timely monitor their blood glucose levels especially those who are suffering from cancer, diabetes, kidney and liver diseases.  

Your Existing Health Insurance Plan Covers Black Fungus (Mucormycosis) Treatment

If you are covered under a medical insurance policy then the insurer is liable to pay for the Mucormycosis treatment as well. And if you are insured under a COVID-19 health insurance plan then also the health insurance provider should offer compensation for the treatment.

Some of the government health insurance schemes are also covering the cost of Black Fungus (Mucormycosis) related hospitalization expenses. Please check your policy wordings for the same and be sure to fight the pandemic in high spirits.

Bottom-line

Seems quite scary! But do not fret, if you have health insurance you can pay for the treatment and avail the best healthcare services in the top hospitals in India. For more details and assistance you can write to us at care @policybazaar.com or call us at 1800-208-8787.