In Games Hospitals Play, seasoned health journalist and public policy professional Abantika Ghosh turns two decades of reporting experience into a compelling, meticulously researched investigation into one of India’s most opaque and emotionally charged sectors: private healthcare. The result is a book that is part exposé, part survival guide, and part call for systemic reform. It forces readers to confront an uncomfortable reality—when illness becomes an opportunity, healthcare ceases to be a service and begins to resemble a marketplace.

A Systemic Failure, Not an Isolated Problem

Ghosh’s central argument is stark: the dysfunction in India’s private healthcare system is not driven by “a few bad eggs.” Instead, it is structural. Patients enter hospitals at the weakest moments of their lives—confused, afraid, desperate for reassurance—and this vulnerability becomes the fulcrum on which the system turns.

Through a mountain of court documents, investigative reports, insider testimonies and years of beat reporting, Ghosh assembles a mosaic of troubling practices:

• Hidden markups on consumables and medicines
• Surge pricing for common surgeries
• Diagnostic over-testing as a revenue tool
• Pressure on clinicians to meet corporate targets
• Hospital packages marketed like experiential products rather than medical necessities
• Insurance loopholes that leave patients under-covered and over-billed

What emerges is a portrait of healthcare as an industry where every stage—consultation, testing, admission, treatment, discharge—can become a revenue line. Ghosh does not sensationalize; she simply connects dots that have long been visible but rarely analysed with such precision.

Human Stories, Hard Evidence

One of the book’s greatest strengths is its narrative balance. Ghosh interlaces data and analysis with human experiences—patients who entered hospitals seeking healing and emerged financially drained; doctors who hold firm against unethical pressures; families entangled in legal disputes; regulators struggling to keep pace with corporate innovations that skirt accountability.

These stories bring emotion and urgency to what could otherwise be an abstract policy debate. They also illuminate how deeply personal the act of seeking care is—and how easily this emotional terrain is exploited.

A Rare Look Inside the Hospital Machine

The insider accounts are particularly revealing. Several of Ghosh’s interviews capture the conflict between medical ethics and corporate demands. She shows how even committed clinicians often navigate a system where revenue goals, package-based treatments and performance-linked expectations shape hospital decision-making.

The hospital, in this narrative, is both a centre of healing and a high-functioning commercial enterprise.

A Policymaker’s Blind Spot

The endorsements from Amitabh Kant, K. Srinath Reddy and Indu Bhushan underline the book’s importance for policymakers. Ghosh situates the private healthcare industry within a regulatory vacuum defined by weak enforcement, fragmented rules and an overreliance on market logic. She makes a persuasive case that India’s path toward Universal Health Coverage cannot be complete without confronting the financial incentives that dominate private healthcare.

Her analysis of health insurance is especially sharp. Insurance, far from offering protection, often becomes a reason for hospitals to inflate costs—while still leaving patients with large out-of-pocket burdens.

Empowering Patients and Citizens

What elevates the book further is its focus on equipping readers to navigate the system more safely. Ghosh offers practical advice on what to ask, what to verify, what to document and what to watch for. These insights do not claim to fix the system, but they help individuals reduce harm and make more informed decisions in an often bewildering environment.

The Author’s Authority and Style

Abantika Ghosh writes with authority, clarity and restraint. Her two decades of experience—reporting from remote regions, engaging with government and private actors, and observing the evolution of India’s healthcare landscape—lend weight to every chapter. Her earlier book on the COVID-19 response established her as a reliable chronicler of public health systems; Games Hospitals Play deepens that reputation.

A Must-Read for Anyone Engaging With Healthcare—Which Is Everyone

In both ambition and execution, this book transcends the genre of investigative reporting. It is:

• a mirror held up to a powerful industry,
• a guide for patients and caregivers trying to safeguard their interests,
• a resource for policymakers seeking more transparent and accountable systems,
• and a reminder that healthcare must remain a public good, not a commodity.

Abantika Ghosh ultimately urges readers to stop accepting the system’s terms uncritically and to begin demanding fairness, transparency and dignity in care.

Games Hospitals Play is not just an important book—it is indispensable.