I have the highest respect for doctors and the medical profession. Yes, there is incompetence in the healthcare system, but just like bad doctors, there are bad bankers, and bad accountants, and bad engineers. Unscrupulous professionals also exist in every sector, including healthcare; a large swathe of health care professionals are however true to their profession, helping humanity. From my own experiences since 2012, I am less likely to say the same about Indian hospitals, and their administrative systems though. The need for rapid growth, fame, maximising profits, and increasing shareholder value seems to drive bad behaviour and flimsy systems - of opaqueness, unfair pricing, uncalled-for cost escalations, etc. And if one does not have insurance cover, one is left to fend for oneself. Between 2011 & 2014, when my dad was hospitalised several times, I never questioned the honesty of the system, and paid every bill presented to me, promptly, and in full. I was a recent returnee