Reduce catastrophic out-of-pocket health spending

The problem

A single hospital admission can move a household into long-term debt, and this remains one of the largest drivers of impoverishment in India.

Why it matters

Health shocks undo years of savings and are the most common route from working poor to destitute.

Proposed solution

Focus on the two things that decide out-of-pocket cost: whether medicines are available free at the point of care, and whether diagnostic tests are available without referral to a private lab.

How it would be implemented

Track both at facility level through citizen reporting; advocate at State level for procurement and diagnostic availability.

Risks, and what we would do about them