ENHANCING CONSUMER SAFEGUARDS FOR RIDERS OFFERED UNDER INTEGRATED SHIELD PLANS

NOTICE PAPER NO. 3526

NOTICE OF QUESTION FOR ORAL ANSWER

FOR THE SITTING OF PARLIAMENT ON 7 MARCH 2025

Name and Constituency of Member of Parliament

Mr Yip Hon Weng

MP for Yio Chu Kang

Question No. 7352

To ask the Minister for Health (a) whether the Ministry will consider working with MAS to further enhance consumer safeguards and transparency requirements for riders offered under Integrated Shield Plans, particularly in ensuring that policyholders are adequately informed of any changes in coverage and premiums; and (b) what measures are in place to monitor the impact of these changes on policyholders especially in terms of affordability and accessibility to necessary healthcare services.

Answer

1                The Member may refer to the oral reply in response to Parliamentary Questions 31 and 32 for the sitting on 4 February 2025 for more details on the Ministry of Health’s and the Monetary Authority of Singapore’s disclosure requirements that apply to both IPs and Riders.

2                As for the other query concerning the impact of these changes on the affordability and access to healthcare, the Member may wish to refer to the written reply in response to Parliamentary Question 10 for the sitting on 28 February 2025.

3                Government’s assurance to Singaporeans is the universal access to subsidized healthcare in public hospitals, which is supported by subsidies, MediShield Life, MediSave and MediFund to ensure affordability. IPs and Riders are private commercial products that are sized for unsubsidized healthcare. Over-coverage, especially the low co-payment under Riders, have changed the dynamics between patients and doctors, resulting in over-servicing, over-consumption and escalating medical bills. Individuals should carefully assess whether the very high premiums of Riders are worth the coverage it offers for residual items like co-payment and deductibles. We have urged the insurance industry to take a hard look at their policy designs, to rein in the domino effect of over-coverage, escalating bills, and higher premiums.