Healthcare costs

Integrated Shield dilemmas: Insurance body tackles consumers’ key concerns

Life Insurance Association answers questions on premiums, riders and when to review IPs

Obesity and palliative care are not well-defined concepts, which creates issues for providers of treatments and those who pay for them.
THE BROAD VIEW

What obesity and palliative care reveal about the economies of health and healthcare

Should interventions aimed at improving health and alleviating suffering not be valued equally?

Riders, which are paid fully in cash, are optional add-ons that reduce out-of-pocket costs by covering deductibles and co-payments.

‘Don’t be Fomo’, wait for clarity on revised premiums before renewing IP riders: advisers

Under the revised rules, premiums for new riders are expected to fall by about 30%

Existing policyholders will not be affected, and insurers may continue selling riders under the current regime until Mar 31, 2026.

MOH scraps full-deductible IP riders to tame rising private healthcare bills

The co-payment cap, which applies after the deductible, will also double to S$6,000

The median bill size at private hospitals has risen by an annual compounded growth rate of 11.5%, from S$9,100 in 2019 to S$15,700 in 2024.
COMMENTARY

IP rider changes: Yet another stab at dampening claims and improving insurers’ results

For policyholders, this means less coverage of a hospital bill, though rider premiums are expected to be 30% lower

Riders are optional add-ons to an Integrated Shield Plan. They are meant to reduce one's out-of-pocket costs when making a hospital claim.
BT EXPLAINS

New IP rider rules: What stays, what goes, and how it affects you

MOH hopes removing riders that fully cover the deductible will maintain ‘cost discipline’ and reduce unnecessary admissions, tests and overnight stays

How do we figure out if we’re under or over insured?

Prudent planning, protected pockets

Combat inflation's impact on savings by "right-siting" your insurance. Howie Lim discusses this with Chan Wai Kit from Life Insurance Association (LIA).

How do you plan your finances to cater for the strain of long-term care?

Hedging the cost of long-term care

Worried about long-term care costs? Singlife's Helen Shen explains why many Singaporeans underestimate the financial impact and common misconceptions.

A study by Mercer Marsh Benefits finds that financial pressures on employer-sponsored health plans are intensifying due to inflation and more costly treatments.

Rising medical claims pressure employers to reduce cover: Mercer Marsh Benefits survey

Insurers forecast an average global increase of 11.1% in medical trend rates in 2026

The Pfizer-Trump agreement represents a highly personalised, transactional approach to healthcare policy that could set troubling precedents.

The Pfizer-Trump deal: A new chapter in drug pricing or political theatre?

The approach may generate headlines while leaving the structural problems of American pharmaceutical pricing unaddressed