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Key considerations when choosing an Integrated Shield Plan (IP)

Ward Class

Depending on whether you want to be covered up to B1 wards, A wards or private hospitals, the premiums will differ. Private hospitals are definitely more expensive, but you’ll enjoy benefits like convenience, comfort and shorter waiting times.

Co-payment

While IPs help to cover a huge bulk of your hospital plans, you can choose to boost your coverage even more with IP riders that offer up to 95% coverage on your hospital bills. This can significantly reduce your out-of-pocket expenses.

Premiums

IP premiums increase with age, so you should always reassess your financial situation to ensure that you are comfortable with the premiums you’re paying for. You can always choose to downgrade your plan when you get older but you cannot easily upgrade your plan as a health underwriting is required.

Compare plans on own your terms

Compare coverage, premiums, and benefits across insurers to make a more informed decision. Depending on your concerns and priority, each serves a different need as not all plans offer the same coverage and benefits.

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Integrated Shield Plan coverage

Singlife Shield Plan 1

Great Eastern Supreme Health P Plus

NTUC Income Enhanced IncomeShield Preferred

HSBC Shield A

AIA HealthShield Gold Max A

Prudential PruShield Premier

Raffles Health Insurance Raffles Shield Private

Policy year limit

Panel with pre-auth: S$2,000,000

Non-panel S$1,000,000

S$1,500,000

Panel: S$2,500,000

Non-panel S$1,000,000

Panel: S$2,000,000

Non-panel S$1,000,000

Panel: S$2,000,000

Non-panel S$1,200,000

Panel: S$1,600,000

Non-panel S$600,000

Deductibles (per policy year) unsubsidised Day surgery / Short stay wards

S$3,500

S$3,000

S$2,000

S$3,000

Outpatient Cancer Drug Treatment/Drugs not on Cancer drug list (CDL)

Up to S$30,000/year with Health Plus riders, otherwise S$0

Up to S$250,000/year with Totalcare riders, otherwise S$0

Up to S$15,000/month

S$30,000/month

Up to S$200,000/year with AIA Max A cancer Care Booster, otherwise S$0

Up to S$150,000/year with PruExtra rider, otherwise $0

Up to S$20,000/year with Premier rider, Up to S$5,000/year with Key rider, otherwise S$0

Not sure which is the right plan for you or your dependents? Fill up this simple form and we'll get an independent financial expert to service you on your inquiry.

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Why should you make life insurance a priority?

With the right insurance, you can be rest assured that your loved ones won't be financially burdened should anything happen to you. A comprehensive and tailored insurance policy according to your needs can help to cover the immediate bills, and defray the cost of daily living expenses in adverse situations.

Does term life insurance cover critical illness?

Critical illness cover can be added to the main term life plan at a nominal amount. To determine the necessary coverage you need, it's beneficial to seek advice from an independent financial advisor who will assess your financial situation, do a review of your existing plans (if any), and provide suitable product recommendations.

Other than critical illness, there are other riders like disability that can be added to the main plan to provide a more comprehensive coverage overall. All in all, it will be useful to have a deep understanding about your current financial situation, the protection gaps you need to fill based on your lifestyle and how much budget should you cater for insurance.

Does term life insurance cover critical illness

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What is Medisave Life

MediShield Life is a basic medical insurance policy for all Singaporeans and Permanent Residents. It is designed to provide basic universal healthcare and to defray large healthcare costs.

It covers basic public hospital treatments for class B2 and C wards. But if you prefer to stay in B1 wards, A wards or private hospitals, you should consider an Integrated Shield Plan.

MediShield Life premiums are entirely paid via MediSave.

An Integrated Shield Plan (IP) is an optional health coverage provided by private insurance companies to complement the coverage provided by CareShield Life. You can choose between coverage for B1 wards, A wards or private hospitals.

Premiums are non-guaranteed and depend on your age group, and you can pay for your premiums by MediSave up to a limit, based on your age.

IP riders are add-ons to your IP to boost your coverage. Some of these additional benefits include higher coverage of up to 95% of your hospital bills and more comprehensive coverage for cancer drugs and treatments, even those not on the Cancer Drug List (CDL). Purchasing an IP rider could significantly reduce your out-of-pocket expenses to just 5% of the entire medical bill, capped at $3000.

FAQ

IPs are medical insurance plans that offer additional benefits on top of those provided by MediShield Life (MSHL).

While MSHL only covers wards of B2/C types in public hospitals, IPs can get a policyholder covered for B1/A wards, and even for wards in private hospitals. Besides better wards, IPs also cover pre- and post-hospitalization expenses.

Many benefits under IPs are offered on the basis of “as charged”, unlike MSHL’s benefits which are mostly capped at limits. If the charges go beyond these limits, the patient with only MSHL will still have to bear the additional cost, which is far from ideal in case of severe health issues.

The following table showcases the extent of coverage for select items under MSHL and Raffles’ Integrated Shield Plan:

	MediShield Life (Coverage up to/Capped at)	Raffles’ Shield Plan
Surgery	SGD 240 – SGD 2,600	As charged
Surgical Implants & Approved Medical Consumables	SGD 7,000/Treatment	As charged
Accidental Inpatient Dental Treatment	Not covered	Covered
Kidney Dialysis	SGD 1,100 per month	As charged
Chemotherapy	SGD 3,000 per month	As charged

Source: Raffles Health Insurance

Complementing MSHL with an IP offers much better coverage and protection.

Deductibles and co-insurance are out-of-pocket expenses paid by the policyholders instead of the insurers.

A deductible is the initial amount you have to pay for medical claims made in a policy year before you can start receiving any payouts from the insurance policy.

Co-insurance is like splitting the medical bill with the insurer. For IPs, the co-insurance amount a policyholder has to pay is a fixed percentage (usually 10%) of the total bill after meeting the deductibles.

For example, if the total medical bill is S$250,000 and you have an IP plan with an annual deductible of S$5,000 and a 10% co-insurance feature, you will need to pay S$5,000 deductible and 10% of the remaining bill after deductible (i.e., S$250,000 – S$5,000).

In this case, your out-of-pocket expenses for the medical bill would be S$29,500 (S$5,000 + 10%*(S$250,000 - S$5,000)). The remaining portion would be paid out by the insurer.

Riders that can further reduce your deductibles and cap your total co-insurance amount are also available in the market. You can add them to reduce your out-of-pocket expenses.

Using the example above and assuming that you add a rider that can reduce your deductible to S$1,000 with the co-insurance amount capped at S$6,000 per policy year, the following chart demonstrates how much you save:

Premium or pricing is only one of the factors you should consider when evaluating different IPs. The reason certain IP policies are cheaper is usually due to less protection or coverage being offered.

After all, IPs’ additional protection and coverage is the main reason you are paying for them, instead of just going with the basic MSHL. So, it is important to choose the right IPs that fit your needs the most rather than the cheapest ones.

Ask yourself these questions: are you okay with B1 wards instead of A wards? Do you only want private hospitals? The premium will only go up as you expect better wards and wider coverage.

It is easy to compare IPs based on different ward types, but it gets increasingly complicated and technical when looking at coverage for specific treatment/illness, where many conditions and restrictions may apply, as seen in the following table that compares select benefits across different IPs under the same category:

Class A plans	NTUC Income	AIA	Great Eastern
Select benefits	Enhanced IncomeShield Advantage	HealthShield Gold Max B	GREAT SupremeHealth A PLUS
Psychiatric	S$7,000/year	S$4,000/year Additional post-hospitalization psychiatric treatment of S$2,500/year within 200 days after confinement	S$22,000/year (Including pre & post hospitalization benefits)
Inpatient Palliative Care	As charged	As charged	S$780/day
Cancer Drug Treatment	4x MediShield Life limit/month	5x MediShield Life limit/month	5x MediShield Life limit/month
Pre-Hospitalization Treatment (no of days indicate max no of days covered prior to admission)	As charged (up to 100 days)	As charged (up to 180 days)	As charged (up to 120 days)
Post-Hospitalization Treatment (no of days indicate max no of days covered after discharge)	As charged (up to 100 days)	As charged (up to 180 days, with additional 100 days for 30 critical illnesses)	As charged (up to 180 days for non-panel specialists) As charged (up to 365 days for panel specialists; both extended & main panel or restructured hospital)

Source: Ministry of Health

To save time and get the best advice, talk to an insurance agent who specializes in these products.

The premiums for all IPs increase with age because the chances of you requiring medical treatment are higher as you grow older.

You can use your MediSave account funds to make payments for your IP annual premiums, up to a limit depending on your age, known as the Additional Withdrawal Limits. This applies to each insured person and not per MediSave account.

You can also pay for your parent’s, spouses’, siblings and children’s IPs.

Age	Additional Withdrawal Limit (Annual)
40 and below	S$300
41 to 70	S$600
71 and above	S$900

Ward costs comprise a huge chunk of hospitalization costs, with charges varying depending on the type of ward. Private wards are the most expensive, offering upgraded amenities and better privacy, while Ward Type C in public hospitals offer basic facilities with up to eight beds per room.

Using Singapore General Hospital as an example, the following table compares the cost of different types of wards in a public hospital here in Singapore:

Type of wards	Description	Rate
Private Ward	Free WiFi Lodger bed cum sofa In-room safe Writing desk In-room telephone Bath and Toiletries Ensuite bathroom Luxury toiletries with plush towels and slippers Hairdryer Entertainment Flat-screen TV Daily copy of the local newspaper Food and Beverage 5 nourishing meals per day Daily meals for 1 companion Complimentary Services 24-hour in-house security Daily housekeeping 24-hour nursing services	From S$790 per day
Standard Ward Type A	Single room attached bathroom and toilet Toiletries Television Telephone Fully automated electric bed Choice of meals Sleeper unit for accompanying adult	From S$540 per day
Standard Ward Type B1	4 beds in a room Attached bathroom and toilet Television Semi-automated electric bed Choice of meals.	From S$269 per day
Standard Ward Type B2	Up to 6 beds in a room Semi-automated electric bed	From S$57 per day
Standard Ward Type C	Up to 8 beds in a room	From S$37 per day

Source: Singapore General Hospital

MSHL plans only cover the basic types of wards (C and B2). If you want anything more comfortable, you will either have to pay a hefty sum or you can plan ahead with additional insurance coverage such as Integrated Shield Plans (IPs).

Opting for additional coverage comes with its own benefits, as Class A and private hospital wards are superior to the basic wards covered under MediShield Life. In addition to better privacy, patients also gain access to better service, shorter waiting times, enhanced safety measures, and overnight family accommodation.

To check if you own an IP, log in to the Healthcare dashboard on the CPF Board website to view your coverage status under the ’Health insurance’ section.

Since IPs work on a reimbursement basis, you’ll still need to pay and make a claim after. Here are some things you need to take note of:

Pre-authorisation

You should always get a pre-authorisation if you’re planning for a procedure or surgery in advance before you’re admitted. Pre-authorisations help to make your whole procedure cashless, so you won’t have to worry about paying upfront. You’ll also have the peace of mind of knowing the exact amount that is covered.

Letter of Guarantee (LOG)

A LOG is a letter from your insurer to the hospital so that the upfront cash deposit paid by patients can be reduced or waived during admission and surgeries.

If the hospital bill is more than the LOG amount when you’re discharged, you may still be required by your hospital to make payment for your hospital bill. Your insurer will then make payment to the hospital, and the hospital will reimburse you when you make your claim.

You can apply for one through “Electronic filing” during the admission process at the hospital.

Filing a claim

For Singapore citizens or PRs, the LOG “Electronic filing” would mean that your claim has already been filed. If you are a foreigner, you will most likely need to pay for the bill first and get reimbursed after.

Depending on the plan you choose, not every claim is successful because of the different benefits and exclusions each plan has. According to Ministry of Health, here are some common reasons why claims are rejected:

Common reasons	Percentage (rounded to nearest %)
IP Policy has expired or Policyholder was not covered under IP Policy	54%
Non-Declaration or False Declaration of Health/Medical Conditions during IP Policy Purchase	21%
Lifetime/policy/monthly limit has reached	11%
General Exclusion e.g. drug addiction/alcoholism not covered	8%
Claim is less than or equal to deductible	4%
Pre-existing illness	2%