You will be able to explain the two parts of an Integrated Shield plan and how each is paid for.
Jun Hao's renewal notice for his hospital plan showed one premium, with a line underneath saying part of it would be deducted from MediSave. His CPF statement showed a deduction from MediSave labelled with the insurer's name. A separate notice from the insurer billed his credit card for the rider. He had three pieces of paper and couldn't say which part of the cover each one paid for.
The answer is that a shield plan is two insurance plans run together, plus an optional third. Once you see the parts, the bills make sense.
MediShield Life is the national basic health insurance plan for Singapore citizens and permanent residents, run by the CPF Board under rules set by the Ministry of Health. You are covered automatically, for life, including for conditions you had before.
It is sized for bills in subsidised wards in public hospitals, B2 and C class, and for some costly outpatient treatments. It has a deductible, co-insurance and claim limits for each kind of treatment, all set by MOH and revised from time to time. Lesson 4.1 of The Singapore personal finance system, end to end, Hospital bills: what basic national cover pays and what shield plans add, explains the national layer in more detail. Look up the current figures on the MOH website rather than relying on any number you remember.
If you are admitted to a higher ward class or a private hospital with MediShield Life alone, it pays as though you had been in a subsidised ward, and the rest of the bill falls to you and your MediSave.
An Integrated Shield plan combines MediShield Life with additional private cover from an insurer. You hold one policy, from one insurer, but underneath it there are two parts: the MediShield Life part and the additional private insurance part.
The private part is designed for a ward class: B1 or A in a public hospital, or a private hospital. It pays more of a bill in that setting than MediShield Life alone would. It may also have higher claim limits and cover some treatments in more generous ways. Unlike MediShield Life, the private part is underwritten, so it can exclude pre-existing conditions you disclose, as lesson 1.3, Underwriting, exclusions and what you must disclose, explained.
When you claim, the insurer handles the whole claim and works out what each part pays. You don't claim twice.
You can hold only one Integrated Shield plan at a time. If you buy a new one, the old one ends. That matters when you switch, because the new insurer can underwrite you afresh and exclude conditions the old plan covered.
The premium you see on a shield plan is the total for both parts. The payment rules differ by part.
The MediShield Life part can be paid entirely from MediSave.
The private part can be paid from MediSave up to a yearly limit, set by age. Above the limit, you pay cash. MOH and the CPF Board publish the current limits; look them up for your age and for the ages you will reach. You can also use your MediSave to pay for an immediate family member's shield plan, within the same limits; check on the CPF website who counts.
Then there are riders. A rider is an add-on to an Integrated Shield plan that reduces what you pay out of pocket on a claim. Rider premiums must be paid in cash, every dollar of them. That makes the rider the most direct hit to your monthly budget of any part of your hospital cover, and the one most worth testing, which lesson 4.3, Deductibles, co-insurance and the co-payment riders must keep, does.
All figures are examples. Jun Hao's shield plan is designed for A class wards. Its total premium this year is S$700. Of that, S$600 is within the MediSave limit for his age and is deducted from his MediSave, and S$100 is paid in cash. His rider costs S$350, all in cash.
So his three papers were the insurer's notice of the total premium, the CPF deduction for the MediSave share, and the card charge for the rider. His cash cost for hospital cover this year is S$100 plus S$350, or S$450, while the MediSave share of S$600 comes out of money he'll want for medical costs later in life.
Many employers give group hospital cover. It's separate from your shield plan. When you're admitted, the insurers and the hospital work out who pays what, and your group policy's terms say how it fits with a shield plan, so read that section once. Group cover is useful, but it ends when the job does, and it may not cover you after retirement or between jobs. Don't drop a shield plan because you have cover at work. If you did and then fell ill, you might not get the private part back without exclusions.
You can find your split in ten minutes. Log in to the CPF website for the MediSave deductions, and check your insurer's app or renewal notice for the total premium and the rider. Work out the cash portion of each, because cash is the part that comes out of your budget every year and the part that grows fastest as you age.
Write down which shield plan and rider you hold, if any, and how much of each premium is paid from MediSave and from cash.
Junxiong-WFG Organisation is an authorised representative of AIA Financial Advisers Private Limited (Reg. No. 201715016G).