Intimidated by all of the acronyms, authorities schemes and ridiculous jargon surrounding medical health insurance in Singapore?
Yeah, us too. That’s why we did the analysis to present you a crash course on the fundamentals of medical health insurance in Singapore: the way it works, why you may want it, and what choices there are.
Medical health insurance in Singapore — the TL;DR model
In case you don’t have time to learn, right here’s a really compressed model of this text:
- All Singaporeans and PRs get primary medical health insurance (MediShield Life) which covers primary public hospital therapies.
- You may enhance MediShield Life with an Built-in Protect Plan (IP), which covers you in higher class wards and personal hospitals, plus covers your pre- and post-hospitalisation remedy.
- BUT it doesn’t matter what medical health insurance you will have, you’ll want to pay some cash (money or Medisave) earlier than you may declare the remaining.
- You may add on a “rider” to your Built-in Protect plan which helps decrease these upfront prices to five% of your hospital invoice.
- You need to use Medisave to pay for MediShield Life and Built-in Protect plans, however NOT riders.
Is Singapore’s healthcare system costly? Want medical health insurance meh?
In case you’re asking this, depend your self fortunate. It have to be a Singaporean ceremony of passage to swallow one’s shock and dismay upon your first hospital invoice.
The Ministry of Well being publishes very detailed historic charges that offer you an concept of how a lot various kinds of medical procedures value.
Let’s take, at random, the median hospital payments for an uncomplicated knee joint substitute surgical procedure. The invoice consists of your hospital keep, operation charges and diverse different prices:
Ward class | Whole hospital invoice |
Public hospital — C | $5,329 |
Public hospital — B2 | $6,432 |
Public hospital — B1 | $19,772 |
Public hospital — A | $22,389 |
Non-public hospital | $34,531 |
In order you may see, one seemingly “easy” medical process like this will set you again a couple of months’ wage. Ouch.
However I have already got Medisave. I can use Medisave to pay, proper?
Each working Singaporean would have some cash of their Medisave accounts. Channelled out of your CPF financial savings, Medisave is principally a bucket of funds that are meant for healthcare prices. You may learn all about it in our helpful information to Medisave.
The brief reply is: sure, you should use Medisave to defray a number of the prices of your remedy (or your quick household’s). However there are withdrawal limits that apply to particular medical invoice elements:
- Surgical procedure: Is determined by how complicated the process is. Ranges from $250 (easiest) to $7,550 (most complicated).
- Every day ward charges: $450/day for a daily hospital keep. For day surgical procedure, it’s $300/day.
Any quantity above the Medisave limits — together with prices like lab assessments that don’t fall underneath the above classes — will have to be paid out of your pocket.
So… Are you saying I can buy medical health insurance?
Primarily based on the straightforward projection we went by way of above, there’s a compelling case for getting some type of medical health insurance. It might cowl extra of your hospital invoice past your Medisave withdrawal limits, plus the opposite medical payments you may’t use Medisave on.
Maintain up although — earlier than you name up your main schoolmate-turned-insurance agent, know that each Singaporean and PR is already routinely coated with primary medical health insurance.
It’s known as MediShield Life, and no, you may’t decide out. Nevertheless, premiums are inexpensive (FOR NOW!) and you should use Medisave to pay them. You may calculate yours right here.
Given the low premiums, MediShield Life advantages are correspondingly primary. Payouts are pegged to costs for Class B2 and C wards in public hospitals. In case you keep in a Class B1 or A ward, or in a personal hospital, you may nonetheless profit from MediShield Life, however you’ll want to high up the remainder of the invoice.
Additionally, it’s for chosen critical therapies solely — you undoubtedly can not use it to cowl your “convalescence” after a beauty tummy tuck.
What if I don’t wish to go to public hospital? What different varieties of medical health insurance can I get?
Most Singaporeans would discover MediShield Life relatively limiting, as in case you do find yourself in a life-threatening situation you’ll need the most effective care and remedy you may afford.
Happily it is vitally straightforward to improve your primary MediShield Life with non-public medical health insurance.
Medical health insurance | What it’s | Can use Medisave to pay premiums? |
MediShield Life | Primary medical health insurance. Covers public hospitals as much as Class B2/C wards | Sure |
Built-in Protect Plan (IP) | MediShield Life + further protection by non-public insurer. Covers Class B1, Class A, or non-public hospitals (you may select) | Sure, as much as annual limits |
IP Riders | Non-obligatory add-ons to your IP. Scale back your out-of-pocket prices or improve particular varieties of protection | No, money solely |
They work collectively like a layer cake, the place MediShield Life varieties the bottom layer, protecting public hospitals’ decrease class wards.
The following layer is an Built-in Protect Plan (IP) which combines MediShield Life with further protection offered by non-public insurers.
Lastly, in case you don’t thoughts paying further premiums in money (not Medisave) you may add “riders” on to your IP to reinforce your protection. I’ll clarify these in a bit.
What are the advantages of an Built-in Protect Plan?
About 2/3 of Singaporeans have an Built-in Protect plan, despite the fact that it prices greater than MediShield Life. Why??
For a begin, you may pay for a portion of your or your quick household’s IP premiums with Medisave inside the annual withdrawal limits: $300 (as much as 40 years previous), $600 (41 to 70 years previous) or $900 (71 years previous and up). Which is a good way to make use of up funds that might in any other case simply sits there untouched, yr after yr.
Relying on the mix of plan and riders you select, IPs can ship the next advantages:
- Greater class wards in public hospitals
- The choice of staying in non-public hospital
- Greater annual declare limits
- Alternative of physician
- Shorter ready time
- Bonus advantages e.g. medical protection outdoors Singapore
Plus some individuals like the truth that your insurance coverage agent is your one level of contact for all issues medical health insurance associated. If you’ll want to make a declare or test in case you’re coated for this and that, no must dig by way of the federal government web site — simply WhatsApp your agent.
Which Built-in Protect Plans can be found?
There are 7 IP suppliers in Singapore:
All of them principally prolong the protection of MediShield Life to cowl Class B1 in public hospitals, all the best way as much as non-public hospitals.
Every insurer gives 2 or 3 plans concentrating on completely different healthcare ranges, e.g. B2 ward, A ward, and personal hospital. You may evaluate medical health insurance protection right here.
What are Built-in Protect Plan riders? Why purchase them?
Enjoyable reality! No matter whether or not you will have MediShield Life or Built-in Protect plan — when you’re hospitalised, you’ll must pay a sure portion of your hospital invoice out of pocket or Medisave.
- Deductible: That is like the surplus in automotive insurance coverage — you’ll want to pay this the primary time you get hospitalised in a coverage yr earlier than the insurer pays the remaining. It’s both $2,000 (B2 ward), $2,500 (B1 ward) or $3,500 (A ward/non-public).
- Co-insurance: You additionally should co-pay 10% of the hospital invoice whatever the deductible.
So let’s say you go for knee joint substitute surgical procedure in a public hospital A ward, and the invoice comes as much as $22,000. Even with insurance coverage, you’ll want to pay a deductible of $3,500 + co-insurance of $2,200 = $5,700.
All IPs supply “riders” (add-ons) that scale back these prices down to only 5% co-insurance. In the identical knee substitute instance above, with a rider, you’ll simply must pay $1,100 as an alternative of $5,700.
IP rider premiums should be paid in money (no Medisave, sorry) and so they can differ quite a bit. Try our Built-in Protect plan comparability to check rider premiums.
That was approach an excessive amount of data. What ought to my key takeaways be?
To sum all of it up, your medical health insurance portfolio ought to replicate how involved you’re about healthcare prices, a.okay.a. your degree of kiasu-ness.
Kiasu degree | Medical health insurance portfolio | Protection degree |
Bochup | MediShield Life | Public hospital B2/C ward solely |
Regular | Built-in Protect plan (public hospital) | Public hospital A/B1 ward + pre- and post-hospitalisation remedy |
Kiasu | Built-in Protect plan (non-public hospital) + rider | The very best healthcare cash should buy in Singapore |
Bochup: In case your solely response to a $22K hospital invoice is a nonchalant shrug, then all proper, you don’t should take any motion. You have already got MediShield Life and that’s sufficient to save lots of your ass in essentially the most primary sense — so long as you’re not picky about which ward you keep in.
Regular: In case you have religion in Singapore’s public well being, however are cautious about doubtlessly excessive medical payments, then go for a public hospital Built-in Protect plan. Go for a Class A IP in case you can afford it; in any other case, even a B1 plan is an improve over the fundamental MediShield Life, because it covers pre- and post-hospitalisation prices too.
Kiasu: So that you wish to get a personal hospital IP simply in case? Because of the astronomical value of personal healthcare, we’d strongly suggest getting a rider too. In any other case you’d find yourself paying hundreds of {dollars} on each hospital go to. Be sure to take into account the overall value of premiums — a few of which can have to be paid in money.
And that’s what you’ll want to learn about medical health insurance in Singapore. Prepared for subsequent steps? Get quotes throughout the market by way of MoneySmart and discover out what your choices are.
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