Higher Integrated Shield premiums likely in 2025; policyholders should take stock of affordability

A FRIEND who was recently warded at a private hospital praised the dinner menu – nothing less than wagyu beef and lobster. But at the halfway mark of a stay expected to be a week long, the preliminary estimate of the bill exceeded S$30,000, which suggested that the daily room charge, excluding surgery, approached a staggering S$10,000.

It’s tempting to view private hospital charges in isolation, where costs bear scant relation to public hospitals’ charges. And that is so, to a certain extent. But medical cost inflation lifts all boats, even the public sector’s.

In health insurance, policyholders of private hospital Integrated Shield Plans (IPs) have suffered the brunt of premium rises – until now. That is set to change.