Healthcare or wealthcare? Silent crisis draining Indian families

A single hospitalization in India can push families into financial ruin. With medical inflation soaring, healthcare is no longer just about well-being, it’s about survival. We save for the future, yet one medical emergency can erase decades of hard work.

Medical costs are rising, with procedures like heart surgeries and angioplasties becoming increasingly expensive. A heart surgery today costs between Rs 1,95,000 and Rs 5,25,000, depending on the city and hospital. An angioplasty ranges from Rs 1,50,000 to Rs 3,00,000, nearly double what it was just a few years ago. Something as basic as an X-ray, which costs Rs 160 in 2015, now averages Rs 600.

Why are we ignoring the obvious?

Despite this reality, most people neglect their health. It’s a paradox: we readily spend Rs 2,000 on a weekend dinner but hesitate to invest Rs 500 in a health check-up.

Why? Because we assume illness happens to “someone else”, and we act only when symptoms force us to. It’s also because we’re caught in the illusion of youth and invincibility.

As a health care person, I see patients diagnosed with diseases that could have been completely preventable had they made small, early lifestyle changes. They are now dependent on lifelong medication, regular hospital visits, and expensive treatments that drain their finances and limit their quality of life.

High price of neglecting prevention

When healthcare becomes unaffordable, it forces families into impossible choices. They sell property or fund treatment, take loans or delay a life-saving procedure, and compromise on quality care or risk financial collapse.

Millions of middle-class families have fallen into poverty due to medical bills. What’s worse is that much of this suffering could have been avoided with basic preventive care.

The situation is even more dire when it comes to diseases like cancer. Unlike a single hospitalization, cancer treatment is a prolonged financial and emotional battle that affects entire families. The cost of chemotherapy, radiation, targeted therapy, and surgery can run into lakhs, often draining life savings. Beyond financial stress, families experience emotional exhaustion, job losses, and even depression while supporting a loved one through treatment. The burden is not just on the patient, it extends to caregivers, who often sacrifice their own health and careers.

Chronic illnesses like diabetes, kidney failure, and neurological disorders such as Alzheimer’s further highlight devastating effects of healthcare costs. The financial strain is compounded by the emotional weight of watching a loved one suffer.

Prevention: Most underrated investment

Consider this: 80% of heart disease (CVD) and type 2 diabetes can be prevented with small lifestyle changes. At least 50% of cancers are linked to diet, pollution, and habits — things we have control over. Just 30 minutes of movement daily reduces the risk of major illness by 52%.

Despite this, prevention remains one of the most neglected aspects of our lives.

Your health is your wealth

So, how do we break free from this cycle? We must stop treating healthcare as an afterthought and start treating it as an investment.

1. Prioritize Health as a Financial Asset

You must schedule yearly check-ups like you would do an annual financial review. Invest in health insurance early before premiums skyrocket with age. Eat well, exercise, and sleep-your future hospital bill depends on it.

2. Affordable Healthcare as a Right

Public healthcare needs to be strengthened so that quality treatment isn’t just for the wealthy. Preventive care, making regular screenings and tests accessible to all must be subsidized.

Govt must make efforts to regulate medical inflation, preventing essential treatments from becoming luxuries.

Look at successful models both globally (Singapore, the UK) and within India (Ayushman Bharat) to create sustainable solutions.

Changing how we value health

We must normalize spending on health as we do on gadgets, vacations, and cars. There is a need to promote health literacy, so people understand the cost of lifestyle diseases.

Companies should be encouraged to provide employee wellness programs that go beyond insurance.

Invest now or pay 10x later

At the rate medical costs are rising, we can either invest in our health today or spend exponentially more later.

(The writer Prof Ram Shankar Upadhayaya is a US-based medical scientist)