When a patient walks into a network hospital for a planned surgery, the expectation is seamless cashless treatment. The reality is often different. A growing number of policyholders find themselves caught in the middle of a financial tug-of-war between their insurer and the hospital, with their health hanging in the balance. The cashless claim standoff is not a fringe problem. It is a structural fault in India's health insurance ecosystem that affects millions of patients every year.