Somewhere between a persistent backache, a missed check-up, and a quiet search for a home remedy, many choose to wait. More often than not, it’s cost, but sheer neglect that keeps people away from care. This pause can allow a minor issue to grow, sometimes with serious consequences and that’s a huge challenge in India.
Sadly, delaying care is no longer a rare exception; it is fast becoming a national trend. To illustrate the case, health screenings conducted by Apollo Hospitals just over the past year revealed that among 2.5 million individuals screened, nearly one in four were living with diabetes or hypertension, often without knowing it. Apollo’s Health of the Nation 2025 report further reinforces this concern, showing that more than 65 per cent had fatty liver disease, frequently without symptoms or known risk factors. Alarmingly, most of these cases were non-alcoholic, pointing to a silent epidemic driven by sedentary lifestyles and changing diets. The data also highlight a sharp rise in obesity and pre-hypertension among younger adults—clear signs of the mounting cost of delayed action.
This statistic is a quiet reminder that putting off a check-up today can lead to a crisis tomorrow. It may feel like a sensible choice in the moment, a way to avoid a burden, but over time, the consequences of postponing care can grow far more serious. Health deteriorates, conditions become harder to treat, and the overall impact on families, livelihoods, and well-being, becomes far greater than the cost of timely treatment.
Healthcare costs
To address this, it is important to speak more honestly about the realities of healthcare costs. There is a widely held perception that hospitals charge arbitrarily or excessively. The truth, however, is more layered. The visible aspects — a surgery, a room stay, a test, are only one part of the picture. Behind every patient interaction lies a complex ecosystem that must remain active and prepared at all times. This includes clinical staffing around the clock, emergency readiness, critical care infrastructure, infection control systems, and constant adherence to quality and safety standards. These elements are not optional; they are essential to protecting life and must be sustained regardless of how many patients walk through the doors on a given day.
In many hospitals, the revenue from routine or insured care is used to support less profitable but essential services such as trauma care, infectious diseases, and government-supported treatments. These cross-subsidies help extend care to those who need it most, even when financial resources are limited.
There is also considerable concern about whether health insurance genuinely offers protection. While some scepticism is understandable, well-structured insurance plays a vital role in shielding individuals and families from the financial impact of medical treatment. In India, millions remain uninsured or are covered by inadequate health policies. While we mandatorily take insurance for our vehicles — objects that can be repaired or replaced — we tend to neglect safeguarding our health, which is neither replaceable nor restorable once lost.
The cost of healthcare is also a reflection of progress. Advances such as precision oncology, robotic surgery, and AI-supported diagnostics have greatly improved outcomes, reduced complications, and shortened hospital stays. These innovations require significant investment in equipment, infrastructure, training, and maintenance. While the associated costs are real, so are the benefits, which include improved survival rates, faster recovery, and safer procedures.
Variations in pricing
Further, it is understandable that variations in healthcare pricing between hospitals can be confusing. However, these differences often reflect variations in standards, scale, and operating models. A small charitable hospital and a high-acuity centre in a metropolitan city operate within very different environments. Factors such as accreditation levels, air quality systems, nurse-to-patient ratios, and post-operative care standards, all contribute to cost. These are not simply optional extras but integral components of quality care.
One of the most important shifts we can make is in how pricing is communicated and understood. Clearer, more transparent communication helps patients prepare, understand what is included in a package, and ask the right questions. Increasingly, hospitals are investing in digital tools and proactive counselling to support this process. At the same time, individuals must be encouraged to engage with the information available to them and to see health-related decisions as part of long-term planning rather than reactive steps.
A pivotal shift in mindset must be that seeking healthcare should not be seen as a luxury. It is a fundamental investment in quality of life, in productivity, and in the ability to care for others. Shifting our mindset in this direction requires more than awareness. It calls for action — broader and simpler insurance coverage, easier access to credible information, and stronger partnerships between providers, policymakers, and communities.
The fear around healthcare can only be reduced when people feel supported. Trust builds when care is accessible, transparent, and humane. Solutions must be rooted in compassion and shaped by the belief that timely care should never be out of reach.
Therefore, if we can begin to view healthcare not as a last resort, but as a foundation for a healthy and fulfilling life, we will begin to ask better questions — not about cost alone, but about value, outcomes, and what it truly means to be cared for.
The cost of care is real. The cost of neglect, though, can be far greater.
The writer is Executive Vice Chairperson of Apollo Hospitals Enterprise Ltd
Published on August 3, 2025