Let me start with a number that should stop us all in our tracks. India's medical inflation is running at 14% per year — nearly double the general inflation rate. A single cardiac bypass surgery that cost ₹2.5 lakhs a decade ago now routinely crosses ₹6–8 lakhs in a private hospital. A 15-day ICU stay for a stroke can drain ₹12–18 lakhs. For a 68-year-old retired teacher living on a pension and fixed deposits, that is not a medical bill. That is a life's savings — gone. This