Delayed, then derailed: How inflation and opaque hospital bills are pushing Indians into crisis

On a Tuesday afternoon in Udupi, the waiting lobby of Adarsh Multi Speciality Hospital was unhurried in a way that only comes when people have been sitting for a long time. Those waiting included a retired schoolteacher who had been managing chest discomfort with antacids for two months and a young construction worker who had been walking with a swollen ankle for six weeks. 

For anyone waiting in the room, the hospital visit was as much about delay as about disease. And the delay was almost always about money. 

The story was the same across other smaller hospitals in Udupi and Mangalore.