Integrated Shield

THINKING ALOUD

Demographic trends challenge IP insurers’ sustainability

Singapore is expected to reach ‘super-aged’ status this year, and an ageing population will suffer more chronic diseases and need healthcare

With the new-design riders, you may need to tap more of your CPF Medisave account to cover a larger share of your hospitalisation bill.
MONEY MATTERS

A framework for thinking about the new Integrated Shield riders

Beyond understanding healthcare and insurance preferences, one should also have adequate emergency funds

While out-of-pocket costs may increase, insurers say that they remain predictable and manageable.

New IP riders kick in with lower premiums, but higher out-of-pocket costs

Insurers are adjusting product features in response to the new framework

The Integrated Shield Plan market has struggled for years with rising premiums and poor profitability, as rising medical inflation and an ageing population have driven up claims.

Some IP insurers hike premiums of base plans for private hospital and A-class wards

This comes after launch of new, cheaper riders which do not cover deductibles, the latest effort to curb ‘buffet syndrome’

BT
THRIVE NEWSLETTER

Hospitalisation insurance 101 and how the new rules change things

[SINGAPORE] If you’ve been keeping up with headlines, chances are, you’ve stumbled upon “Integrated Shield Plan” and something called a “deductible” in your news feed. 

Singapore's hospital bed crunch is set to ease. Between 2025 and 2030, another 13,600 beds will be added to the healthcare system.
MIND THE GAP

Should you drop your Integrated Shield Plan? This health scare offers insights

A HEALTH scare that my husband suffered last month surfaced some perspectives on why a significant number of people, particularly seniors, may consider giving up their Integrated Shield Plans (IPs).

If you are satisfied with a subsidised public hospital, there is no need to buy an Integrated Shield Plan as your MediShield Life would be sufficient.

What the new Integrated Shield riders imply

The latest changes are a step forward in helping to shift the unhealthy behaviours of medical consumption

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