MediShield Life is the basic health insurance every Singapore citizen and PR has, for life. It pays most of a big bill in a subsidised Class B2 or C hospital ward. It also helps with costly outpatient care such as dialysis and cancer drugs. The premium starts at S$200 a year for a child and rises with age to S$2,826 above 90, and MediSave can pay all of it. Citizens in households earning up to S$3,600 a month per person can get 15% to 60% off, depending on their age and home. You still pay a share of every claim. If you pick a Class A ward or a private hospital, MediShield Life pays only a small part of the bill. Here is what you pay at your age, how a claim is worked out and what an Integrated Shield Plan adds.
If you're a Singapore citizen or PR, you're on MediShield Life automatically, for life, whatever your age or health. Foreigners aren't covered, and our guide to health insurance for foreigners in Singapore covers what they need instead.
It's built around subsidised bills in Class B2 and C wards at public hospitals. You're still covered in a Class A or B1 ward or a private hospital. But your bill is scaled down first, so MediShield Life pays a much smaller share.
It pays for hospital stays, day surgery, community hospitals, inpatient palliative care and psychiatric stays of up to 60 days a year. It also pays for costly outpatient treatment such as kidney dialysis, cancer drugs, radiotherapy and anti-rejection drugs after an organ transplant. Since 1 June 2026 it also covers fertility preservation surgery for patients whose treatment puts their fertility at risk.
Each part of the bill has a limit on what MediShield Life pays. These are MOH's limits from 1 June 2026.
| Item | Claim limit |
|---|---|
| Normal ward, first two days | S$1,630 a day |
| Normal ward, from day three | S$830 a day |
| Intensive care unit | S$5,140 a day |
| Community hospital | S$370 a day for rehab, S$570 a day for sub-acute care |
| Psychiatric ward | S$230 a day, up to 60 days a policy year |
| Surgery | S$240 to S$3,900 per operation, by complexity and ward class |
| Implants | S$7,000 per treatment |
| Outpatient dialysis | S$1,750 a month |
| Outpatient cancer drug treatment | S$200 to S$12,800 a month, depending on the drug |
| Total in a policy year | S$200,000, with no lifetime limit |
Long-term care for severe disability is a separate scheme, CareShield Life, with its own premium.
Your premium depends on your age at your next birthday, so if you're 40 today you're in the 41 to 50 band.
The prices below include GST and apply to policies starting or renewing from 1 April 2025. The three columns on the right show what a citizen pays after the Premium Subsidy, which depends on household income per person (more on that below). Other help, such as rebates, Phased Support and the Pioneer and Merdeka Generation subsidies, comes off on top and isn't shown.
| Age next birthday | Before subsidy | Income per person up to S$1,500 | S$1,501 to S$2,600 | S$2,601 to S$3,600 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 to 20 | S$200 | S$150.00 | S$160.00 | S$170.00 |
| 21 to 30 | S$295 | S$221.25 | S$236.00 | S$250.75 |
| 31 to 40 | S$503 | S$377.25 | S$402.40 | S$427.55 |
| 41 to 50 | S$637 | S$445.90 | S$477.75 | S$509.60 |
| 51 to 60 | S$903 | S$586.95 | S$632.10 | S$722.40 |
| 61 to 65 | S$1,131 | S$678.60 | S$735.15 | S$848.25 |
| 66 to 70 | S$1,326 | S$795.60 | S$861.90 | S$994.50 |
| 71 to 73 | S$1,643 | S$903.65 | S$985.80 | S$1,150.10 |
| 74 to 75 | S$1,816 | S$998.80 | S$1,089.60 | S$1,271.20 |
| 76 to 78 | S$2,027 | S$1,114.85 | S$1,216.20 | S$1,418.90 |
| 79 to 80 | S$2,187 | S$1,202.85 | S$1,312.20 | S$1,530.90 |
| 81 to 83 | S$2,303 | S$1,151.50 | S$1,266.65 | S$1,612.10 |
| 84 to 85 | S$2,616 | S$1,308.00 | S$1,438.80 | S$1,831.20 |
| 86 to 90 | S$2,785 | S$1,253.25 | S$1,392.50 | S$1,810.25 |
| Above 90 | S$2,826 | S$1,130.40 | S$1,271.70 | S$1,695.60 |
Say you'll be 45 on your next birthday and your household of three earns S$7,000 a month. That's S$2,333 per person, so you're in the middle column. In the 41 to 50 band that means 25% off, and S$637 becomes S$477.75.
If your home's annual value were S$25,000 instead, your discount would drop to 15% and you'd pay S$541.45.
Our MediShield Life premium calculator does the sum for you. Enter your age, household income, household size and annual value. It shows your yearly premium after the Premium Subsidy, your rebate and any Pioneer or Merdeka Generation subsidy.
From 66 to 90 you also get a rebate on your premium. The younger you were when you joined the scheme, the bigger it is.
CPF Board's estimate for someone born in 1950 or later who joined at 30 or younger is S$64 a year at 66 to 70. It reaches S$712 a year at 86 to 90.
MOH keeps a list of serious illnesses, such as cancer, heart disease, stroke, kidney disease, COPD and schizophrenia. If you already had one when your cover started, you pay 30% extra for the first 10 years, then the normal premium for your age.
At 45 next birthday with no subsidy, that's S$637 plus S$191.10, or S$828.10 a year.
The Premium Subsidy comes off the whole amount, extra included. So a 45-year-old in the lowest income band gets 30% off S$828.10 and pays S$579.67. If you also want private cover, our guide to health insurance with a pre-existing illness explains what happens.
The Premium Subsidy depends on two things: your household income per person, and your home's annual value.
Income per person is your household's total monthly income divided by the number of people in it. Annual value is IRAS's estimate of the yearly rent your home could fetch, and you can check it on IRAS's myTax Portal.
You qualify if income per person is S$3,600 or less and your home's annual value is S$31,000 or less. Homes with an annual value up to S$21,000 get the full rate. From S$21,001 to S$31,000 you get 10 percentage points less, so 25% off becomes 15% off.
If you own more than one property, you don't get it. PRs get half the citizen rate. MOH says about 60% of policyholders get premium subsidies, and that figure takes in lower- and middle-income households and Pioneer and Merdeka Generation seniors.
Four other kinds of help come on top.
In August 2026, MOH told Parliament what the 2025 increase cost in practice. After subsidies, the typical policyholder in a subsidised household paid S$14 to S$16 more a year, and one in a household earning above S$3,600 per person paid S$31 more. Those figures are for homes with an annual value of S$21,000 or less, and they leave out the extra MediSave top-ups paid to cover the increase.
You can pay the whole premium from MediSave, with no limit, and it's deducted automatically. If you don't have enough, a parent or spouse can pay from their MediSave, or you can top up your account in cash. Our guide to topping up MediSave has the limits and the tax relief rules.
Here's how CPF Board works out what MediShield Life pays on a bill.
| Ward or treatment | Age 80 and below | Age 81 and above |
|---|---|---|
| Class C ward | S$2,000 | S$2,750 |
| Class B2, B2+ or B1 ward | S$2,500 | S$3,500 |
| Class A ward or private hospital | S$3,500 | S$4,500 |
| Day surgery | S$1,500 | S$2,000 |
| Community hospital or palliative care, subsidised | S$2,000 | S$2,750 |
| Community hospital or palliative care, non-subsidised | S$2,500 | S$3,500 |
| Outpatient treatment | S$500 | S$500 |
Co-insurance is worked out over the whole policy year, not per stay. You pay 10% of the first S$5,000 of claimable bills, 5% of the next S$5,000 and 3% of anything above S$10,000. The deductible counts as part of that first S$5,000.
Outpatient treatment now uses the same bands.
This is one of CPF Board's own examples. A 50-year-old citizen spends 45 days in a B2 ward and has two operations. The bill is S$11,700, all within the claim limits.
In another CPF Board example, a 50-year-old spends five days in a Class A ward and has a complex operation. The bill is S$18,900.
Because it's a Class A ward, only 27% of the ward charges and 25% of the surgery fees count. That leaves a claimable amount of S$4,863.
Say a month of dialysis costs S$1,500. On your first claim of the policy year, you pay the S$500 outpatient deductible, then 10% of the S$1,000 left. MediShield Life pays S$900, and MediSave covers your S$600.
In later months of the same policy year, there's no deductible to pay. The outpatient deductible started on 1 June 2026.
After a claim, you still pay these yourself.
MediSave can pay most of these, up to its limit for each kind of treatment. Our MediSave withdrawal limit guide lists them in dollars. The rest is cash.
For a subsidised B2 or C stay, the cash you pay is usually small. For a Class A or private hospital bill, you pay most of it, partly from MediSave and the rest in cash, as the S$18,900 example shows.
An Integrated Shield Plan (IP) doesn't replace MediShield Life. It's MediShield Life with extra private insurance on top, meant for Class A and B1 wards or private hospitals. Seven insurers sell them, and you can only have one at a time.
| MediShield Life | Integrated Shield Plan | |
|---|---|---|
| Who is covered | Every citizen and PR, automatically | Whoever the insurer accepts |
| Pre-existing conditions | Covered; 30% Additional Premium for 10 years on listed serious conditions | May be excluded from the private layer; MediShield Life still covers them |
| Wards it is sized for | Class B2 and C in public hospitals | Class A, B1 or private hospitals, depending on the plan |
| Premium paid with | MediSave, in full | MediShield Life part from MediSave; private part from MediSave up to S$300, S$600 or S$900 a year by age, the rest in cash |
| Riders | None | Optional, paid in cash |
| Minimum yearly deductible | S$1,500 to S$4,500 inpatient, by ward and age | S$1,500 (Class C) to S$3,500 (Class A or private), set by MOH |
For the private part, MediSave pays up to S$300 a year until age 40, S$600 from 41 to 70 and S$900 from 71. You pay anything above that in cash.
A rider is an optional add-on, paid fully in cash, that covers some of the deductible and co-insurance your IP leaves you.
The rules for new riders changed on 1 April 2026. A new rider can't pay the IP's minimum deductible any more. You still pay at least 5% of the bill, and the yearly cap on that share is now S$6,000 or more, up from S$3,000 or more. The deductible doesn't count toward the cap.
MOH expects the new riders to cost about 30% less on average than the old full-cover ones. If you bought a rider before 27 November 2025, your insurer decides what happens to it.
Three questions help you weigh whether the private part is worth its cash premium.
Which ward would you pick for a planned operation? If a B2 ward is fine, MediShield Life is already built for it.
Can you keep paying the cash part into your 60s and 70s? By then MediSave covers only S$600 to S$900 a year of it, and the rest is cash.
How healthy are you today? Insurers check when you apply, so an illness you already have may be left out of the private cover.
Our MediShield Life vs Integrated Shield Plan comparison sets the two side by side. The IP premium calculator splits a plan's premium into MediSave and cash, and our Integrated Shield Plan comparison lines up the plans on sale.
MediShield Life is partway through the changes from its 2024 review. These dates change your premium or your bill.
| Date | What changes |
|---|---|
| 1 April 2025 | New premium schedule; Premium Subsidies raised to up to 60%; Phased Support starts for two policy years; first step up in the inpatient deductible |
| 1 April 2026 | New IP riders can no longer cover the minimum IP deductible; co-payment cap at least S$6,000 |
| 1 June 2026 | S$500 outpatient deductible; new claim limit schedule; fertility preservation surgery covered |
| 1 April 2027 | Second step up in the inpatient deductible |
| March 2028 | End of the three-year phase-in of the 2025 premium rise |
MOH capped the total premium increase from the review at 35% and is spreading it evenly from April 2025 to March 2028. So expect your premium to go up a little at each renewal until then, plus any jump when you move into an older age band.
MOH says that for more than nine in ten Singaporeans, the extra MediSave top-ups and subsidies more than cover the increase over those three years. The Healthcare dashboard on the CPF website shows your exact premium.
Before subsidies, it's S$200 a year up to age 20, S$637 at 41 to 50 and S$2,826 above 90. Your band is set by your age at your next birthday. Subsidies and rebates bring it down, and MediSave can pay all of it.
Citizens whose household earns S$3,600 a month or less per person get 15% to 60% off if their home's annual value is S$21,000 or less. From S$21,001 to S$31,000 the discount is 10 percentage points smaller. Older people and lower incomes get bigger discounts. You don't qualify if you own more than one property, and PRs get half the citizen rate.
No. An Integrated Shield Plan is your MediShield Life cover with a private layer added on top, so the MediShield Life part stays. If you cancel the private plan, you keep MediShield Life for life and pay only its premium.
Yes. Everyone is covered whatever their health. If you already had a serious illness on MOH's list when your cover started, such as cancer, stroke or kidney disease, you pay 30% extra for the first 10 years. MediSave can pay that too.
Yes, within MediSave's withdrawal limits for each kind of treatment. In CPF Board's B2 ward example, the patient's whole S$3,051 share of an S$11,700 bill came out of MediSave. Large Class A or private bills usually leave a cash balance.
This is general financial information for Singapore, not personal financial advice. Figures change, so verify current rates against the official sources above before acting. See our full disclaimer.
Junxiong-WFG Organisation is an authorised representative of AIA Financial Advisers Private Limited (Reg. No. 201715016G).