When Mudit Agarwal admitted his mother, Poonam Singhal, to Manipal Hospital in Delhi’s Dwarka on the evening of March 3, 2025, he wasn’t thinking about claim forms or policy numbers. He was thinking about how much pain his mother was in. About the steps she couldn’t take. About the surgery she desperately needed.

The doctors diagnosed spinal stenosis, a condition where the spine narrows so severely that every movement is painful. The family’s relief came from a simple assurance: the cashless insurance cover from Star Health Insurance would take care of it.

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Mudit, who hails from Etawah in Uttar Pradesh, had travelled to Delhi hoping his mother would finally get the treatment she needed. But by 10 am the next morning, that comfort began to unravel. An email landed in Mudit’s inbox. The cashless claim, registered barely 12 hours earlier, had been rejected.

The reason, couched in insurance jargon, accused the family of a “break in policy period,” implying the illness had begun when the policy wasn’t active.

Mudit was shocked and dejected.

“The policy was renewed on time. The treatment began during the grace period, which, by the company’s own terms, ensures continuity,” he told IndiaToday.in.

Clarifications were sent. Prescriptions. Supporting documents. Hours passed. The insurer’s medical team responded—not with an acknowledgement, but with another obstacle. Now the issue was the hospital’s package charges.

STUCK BETWEEN BILLS AND APPROVALS

Manipal Hospital had estimated the surgery cost at around Rs 9.74 lakh. Star Health called it “on the higher side” and demanded a revision.

“The hospital has an MoU with St