Last Updated on January 3, 2024 by Tree of Wealth

Getting hospitalised isn’t just worrying in terms of recovery, it can hit your finances hard. This is why hospitalisation insurance is important to cover bills.

All Singaporeans and PRs are covered with a plan called MediShield Life, which means we all have some level of coverage when being hospitalised. But you can also add on an integrated shield plan (IP) from private insurers.

How Do MediShield & Integrated Shield Plans Work?

MediShield Life is a compulsory insurance policy that covers all Singaporeans and PRs for life. It also covers pre-existing conditions, but does not cover pre- and post- hospitalisation costs. There are also caps on the payouts.

Integrated Shield Plan is an optional add-on to your MediShield Life plan offered by private insurance companies to supplement MediShield Life. The coverage ranges from private hospitals to public hospitals and from Class A to Class C wards. You can easily check if you have an IP under CPF online services.

IPs used to ensure that you would not need to pay an upfront deductible when you get hospitalised. However, after the ruling changed on March 8, 2018, integrated shield plans will no longer cover the 10% co-insurance (the insured pays 10% percentage of the expenses).

Rather, a 5% co-insurance will be borne by the insured regardless even if the insured buys a rider that covers both coinsurance and deductible.

When you have a private integrated shield plan without a rider, the insured will need to pay 10% of the bill, together with the deductibles. “Deductible” is the amount paid by the policyholder before the insurance company provides payouts:

• C Ward: $1,500
• B2 Ward: $2,000
• B1 Ward: $2,500
• A and Private Ward: $3,500

In a scenario where you incur a $10,000 bill for a standard room in a private hospital, and you have a private IP (no rider), you will need to pay an upfront deductible of $3,500 and co-pay 10% of the remaining $6,500. In total, you pay $4,200.

If you have an integrated shield plan with rider, you pay 5% of the remaining $6,500 (cap of $3,000), which is $3,825.

Comparison of Integrated Shield Plans (2024)

Integrated Shield Plans With Panel Doctor

	Singlife with Aviva	HSBC Life	AIA	Income	Raffles
Max Sum Assured (With Panel)	$2,000,000	$2,500,000 (Highest)	$1,000,000	$1,500,000	$1,500,000
Pre Hospitalisation (Maximum)	90 days (Non-Panel)   180 days	180 days (Panel or Non-Panel)	100 days (Non-Panel)   390 days	100 days (Non-Panel)   180 days (Panel)	If receiving treatment from a Panel, Extended Panel specialist, or in restructured hospitals, the maximum duration is 180 days. Otherwise, it is limited to 90 days.
Post hospitalisation (Maximum)	180 days (Non-Panel)   365 days	365 days (Panel or Non-Panel)	100 days (Non-Panel)   390 days	100 days (Non-Panel)   365 days (Panel)	365 days
Pregnancy complications (waiting period)	10 months	10 months	10 months	10 months	10 months
Congenital abnormalities (waiting period)	24 months	12 months	10 months	12 months	24 months
Co-insurance with rider (Panel) – Maximum	5% with cap of $3,000	5% with cap of $3,000	5% with cap of $3,000	5% with cap of $3,000	5% with cap of $3,000
Deductible with rider	$1,000 with pre auth $2,000 without pre auth	$0	$0	$0	$0

Integrated Shield Plans With Non-Panel Doctor

	Singlife with Aviva	HSBC Life	AIA	Income	Raffles
Max Sum Assured	$1,000,000	$1,000,000	$600,000	$1,500,000	$600,000
Pre Hospitalisation (Maximum)	90 days	180 days	100 days	100 days	90 days
Post hospitalisation (Maximum)	180 days	365 days	100 days	100 days	180 days
Pregnancy complications (waiting period)	10 months	10 months	10 months	10 months	10 months
Congenital abnormalities (waiting period)	24 months	24 months	10 months	12 months	24 months
Co-insurance with rider (Maximum)	5% with no cap	5% with no cap	5% with no cap	5% with no cap	5% with no cap
Deductible with rider (Maximum)	$2,000	$1,500	$0	$0	$0

Comparison of Integrated Shield Plan Premiums (Private Hospitals)

Age Next Birthday	HSBC Life HSBC Life Shield Plan A	Income Enhanced IncomeShield Preferred	Raffles Health Insurance Raffles Shield Private	AIA HealthShield Gold Max A	Singlife with Aviva Singlife Shield Plan 1
1 -20	$315 – 330	$320 – 330	$339	$395	$337
21 – 30	$435 – 480	$450 – 465	$468 – 471	$500 – 573	$482
31 – 40	$711	$680 – 690	$729 – 732	$782 – 827	$799
41 – 50	$1173	$1220 – 1350	$1062 – 1157	$1511 – 1595	$1239 – 1449
51 – 60	$1850 – 2200	$1880 – 2180	$1748 – 1857	$2324 – 2736	$1966 – 2283
61 – 65	$2920	$2870	$2557	$3635	$2977
66 – 70	$3690 – 3750	$3675	$3333	$4944	$3874
71 – 73	$4942	$4575	$4039	$6301	$4945
74 – 75	$5520	$5180	$4664	$6976	$5721
76 – 78	$6760	$5880	$5510	$8602	$6427
79 – 80	$7135	$6490	$6342	$9476	$7136
81 – 83	$7474	$6825	$6960	$10057	$8205
84 – 85	$8735	$7785	$8443	$10402	$9084
86 – 90	$9004 – 9665	$8435 – 9050	$9091 – 9554	$10576 – 10662	$9761 – 10020
Above 90 Years Old	$10926 – 13855	$9555 – 11105	$9667 – 11573	$11124 – 12347	$10286 – 11152

Comparison Table for Shield Plan Riders (5% co-pay)

Age Next Birthday	HSBC Life Enhanced Care Rider (Plan A)	NTUC Income Deluxe Care Rider (EIS Preferred Plan)	Raffles Health Insurance Key Rider (Private)	AIA Max VitaHealth A Rider	Singlife Health Plus Private Prime Rider
1 – 20	$444.10 – $459.30	$445.12 – $482.47	$236.19 – $280.60	$642.95	$589.45
21 – 30	$474.40 – $489.50	$198.84	$288.67	$642.95	$675.25
31 – 40	$570.30 – $575.30	$213.98 – $219.03	$299.78 – $304.82	$712.59	$772.15
41 – 50	$605.60 – $767.10	$330.06 – $349.23	$309.87 – $402.73	$881.15 – $994.20	$927.59 – $989.16
51 – 60	$928.60 – $1635.10	$470.36 – $536.97	$486.51 – $863	$1415.10 – $1821.86	$1,244.53 – $1,812.78
61 – 65	$2,119.60	$760.04	$1087.06	$2453.71	$2,467.85
66 – 70	$3,028.00	$1006.32	$1410.06	$3346.99	$3,033.08
71 – 73	$3,755.80	$1256.64	$1706.80	$3989.94	$3,375.25
74 – 75	$4,340.20	$1,482.73	$1896.56	$4490.57	$3,472.15
76 – 78	$4,827.70	$1563.48	$1916.75	$4803.47	$3,513.53
79 – 80	$5,097.20	$1793.61	$2013.65	$5188.03	$3,567.02
81 – 83	$6,318.50	$2012.64	$2382.06	$5499.92	$3,759.81
84 – 85	$6,358.90	$2222.58	$2382.06	$5835.02	$3,888
86 – 90	$6,550.70 – $6,914	$2401.23 – $2716.15	$2390.13 – $2525.39	$6187.28 – $6561.75	$4,017.20 – $4,234.20
>90 years old	$7,475.20 – $9,487.90	$2934.17 – $3790.09	$2753.49 – $3479.22	$6780.78 – $7482.28	$4,517.83 – 5,862.28

Singlife with Aviva Integrated Shield Plan

Aviva’s MyShield Plan covers pre and post hospital treatment and all treatment received in the accident and emergency department. It also covers planned and emergency overseas inpatient treatment.

Aviva is also offering free $50,000 newborn benefit for children starting from 15 days old or from the date of discharge from the hospital, whichever is later. There is also MyHealthPlus rider, which covers 50% of the co-insurance amount incurred under MyShield.

HSBC Life Integrated Shield Plan 

HSBC Life has over 340 GP clinics under its panel and consultation costs $12 per visit if you have the HSBC Life Shield Plan. For the HSBC Life Shield Specialist Panel, it is $100 standard consultation fee per visit at over 400 medical specialist clinics and $70 per follow-up consultation fee. HSBC Life also offers the cheapest overall plan from age 21 to 70.

If you get the HSNC Life Shield with Enhanced Care Rider, you pay $0 deductible for HSBC Life’s panel of specialists and community hospitals per policy year. A 5% co-insurance per claim is still applicable.

AIA Integrated Shield Plan 

AIA’s IP offers the longest pre- and post- hospitalisation waiting period. You can also enjoy 13 months worth of pre and post hospitalisation for panel specialists.

AIA also covers the most coverage for outpatient treatment, covering parenteral nutrition (intravenous feeding, is a method of getting nutrition into your body through your veins), which other plans in this article do not.

For $12, you can receive professional medical advice from Singapore-registered doctors via video consultation wherever you are, and have your prescription delivered to your doorstep within 90 minutes.

Income Insurance Enhanced IncomeShield 

Income Insurance Enhanced IncomeShield is a medical insurance plan that covers hospital and surgical expenses and can be paid with your MediSave account. There is an option to choose a classic care rider, which is more affordable than regular riders. But the co-payment is 10% of the benefits due.

Raffles Shield 

Raffles Shield covers B1 wards, A1 wards and private hospitals. One unique thing about Raffles Shield A Plan is that you can get to purchase a Raffles Hospital Option, which enables you to get 100% coverage not only at Class A public/restructured hospitals but also Raffles Hospital.

The Raffles Key Rider reduces co-payment to 5% capped at $3,000 per year. It also provides a daily hospital cash benefit if you choose a ward that is less than what you are entitled to.

Claiming Matters

Insurers may decline or refuse to pay for claims made due to several common reasons

Your insurance policy may not guarantee a payout for your claim in every situation. The following table lists some common reasons why your insurer might decline your claim or refuse to offer compensation. To learn more about your specific claim and insurance coverage, please consult with your insurance provider.

There are several common factors that can lead to claims being rejected or not paid out, including:

• When the claim amount is below the deductible
• when a medical condition is excluded from the policy
• when the claim falls under general exclusions such as pregnancy and maternity expenses

Letter of Guarantee

In case of hospitalization, obtaining a Letter of Guarantee (LOG) from your insurer can reduce the amount of upfront cash deposit required by the hospital. The LOG is a letter that selected hospitals receive from insurers, enabling them to waive fully or partially the upfront cash deposit for hospitalizations or surgeries. The waiver is based on the estimated portion of the bill covered by the insurance. The availability of LOGs is subject to the respective terms of service of insurers, who offer them as an additional service. All IP insurers provide LOGs, and you can obtain more information from your IP insurer.

After being discharged from the hospital, it’s possible that you’ll still need to pay your hospital bill as your insurer evaluates your claim based on your insurance policy. Once your insurer has made payment to the hospital, you will receive a reimbursement from the hospital.

There are several typical explanations for why insurers may not issue a Letter of Guarantee in particular circumstances

However just because you have an IP doesn’t guarantee that your insurer will issue a LOG for your hospital treatment. Your insurance coverage could vary from that of other policyholders, and your insurer might not be able to confirm whether your treatment is eligible for a claim under your coverage from the outset.

Below we look at some outlines of the typical reasons why insurers may deny policyholders a LOG. If you want to learn more about LOGs and your insurance coverage, you should consult your insurer.

Depending on the disease, hospitalisation fees vary and can be quite high. Pre- and post- hospitalisation expenses, which are not covered by MediShield Life, may already be high, if you have a rare condition. Getting an integrated shield plan also means you can stay at better wards or private hospitals without paying huge hospital bills.

Get the Best Health Insurance Singapore 2024

From the in-depth review we can see there are many types of hospitalisation plans in the market, offered by a myriad of insurers/healthcare groups. We have specially reviewed and compare them for you so you don’t have to. Find the best Health Insurance Protection in Singapore that best suits your needs today.