India, Jan. 28 -- Public welfare systems reveal their priorities not through stated intent, but through the way they perform under pressure. In healthcare, that performance is measured less by policy architecture than by whether treatment is available, timely, and predictable when it is needed. For India's veterans, this reality becomes visible when the Ex-Servicemen Contributory Health Scheme is placed alongside the Central Government Health Scheme. Both are contributory. Both promise comprehensive care. Yet their outcomes diverge in ways that merit closer institutional examination.

ECHS was introduced in 2003 to address a long-standing gap in post-retirement medical care for ex-servicemen and their dependents. CGHS, established decades...