MEASURES TO MANAGE INCREASES TO BASE INTEGRATED SHIELD PLAN PREMIUMS

NOTICE PAPER NO. 782

NOTICE OF QUESTION FOR ORAL ANSWER

FOR THE SITTING OF PARLIAMENT ON 05 MAY 2026

Name and Constituency of Member of Parliament

Mr Yip Hon Weng

MP for Yio Chu Kang

Question No. 2034

To ask the Coordinating Minister for Social Policies and Minister for Health (a) how does the Ministry address insurers which raise base Integrated Shield Plan premiums, effectively negating new rider savings; (b) what specific mechanisms ensure claims are not unreasonably rejected to mitigate rising costs; and (c) whether the Ministry will mandate greater transparency in premium calculation methods and publicly penalise insurers that engage in unjustifiable price hikes.

NOTICE PAPER NO. 783

NOTICE OF QUESTION FOR ORAL ANSWER

FOR THE SITTING OF PARLIAMENT ON OR AFTER 06 MAY 2026

Name and Constituency of Member of Parliament

Dr Hamid Razak

MP for West Coast – Jurong West GRC

Question No. 2036

To ask the Coordinating Minister for Social Policies and Minister for Health (a) whether the Ministry was aware of the intention by insurers to raise base Integrated Shield Plan (IP) premiums at the same time as the required changes to IP rider specifications from 1 April 2026; and (b) if so, whether any and what analysis was done on how base premium increases would interact with rider changes in affecting overall premiums for consumers.

Answer

1               Mr Speaker, I seek your permission to address Questions 7 and 8 in today’s order paper.

2               Integrated Shield Plan (IP) insurers review the premiums of IPs and riders every year. Across a 3-year period from December 2021 to December 2024, private hospital IP premiums have been rising every year at an average of 8.6%, while private hospital rider premiums have been rising every year at an average of 17.2%. In line with these trends, some private hospital IP and rider plans were recently repriced. However, with the launch of the new riders, policyholders can save on average 35% to 40% premiums by switching to the new riders. 

3               We have responded to previous similar Parliamentary Questions 1 to 4 asked by the members at the 24 September 2025 sitting, on increases in IP and rider premiums. To recap, Government’s role is to ensure affordable, accessible, and quality subsidised healthcare for Singaporeans, with MediShield Life coming in to cover higher bills. IPs and riders are private, commercial products that supplement MediShield Life coverage for unsubsidised healthcare. While MOH regulates the key parameters of IPs, such as the co-payment and deductible, to ensure that the schemes are sustainable, MOH’s general practice is not to intervene in insurers’ commercial decisions such as the setting of premiums.  

4        To Mr Yip’s question on claims management, the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) and MOH require insurance companies to uphold their contractual obligations and process claims in a fair manner. Under MAS' insurance regulations, insurers must notify their policyholders of any change in policy terms and conditions at least 30 days before it takes effect. Should there be disputes over specific claims, policyholders can take it to the Financial Industry Disputes Resolution Centre (FIDReC), an independent and impartial institution that assists with insurance-related disputes. MAS will also take action against insurers if they do not pay claims in accordance with policy terms and conditions or have unfair claims handling practices.