An Integrated Shield Plan (IP) is private health insurance that sits on top of MediShield Life and pays for a higher ward class or a private hospital. Seven insurers sell them in Singapore as of 2026: AIA, Great Eastern, HSBC Life, Income, Prudential, Raffles Health Insurance and Singlife. The honest answer to 'which is best' is that the ward tier you choose (private hospital, Class A, or Class B1) decides most of your premium and most of your coverage, far more than which logo is on the policy. The bigger 2026 change is to riders: from 1 April 2026, new riders can no longer wipe out your full bill, so anyone buying now will pay a 5% co-payment up to a yearly cap. This guide compares the plans on the things that actually differ, and shows what you pay in cash versus from MediSave.
Every Singaporean and PR is automatically covered by MediShield Life, the national health insurance run by the CPF Board. It is sized for subsidised Class B2/C wards in public hospitals. If you are happy being treated in a B2/C ward and using public-hospital subsidies, you may not need anything more.
An IP adds a second layer on top. The MediShield Life portion stays the same; the insurer adds 'Additional Private Insurance Coverage' that pays for a higher ward (B1 or A) or a private hospital. So an IP is one policy with two parts under the hood: the government MediShield Life base, plus the insurer's top-up. You claim once and the two settle in the background.
There is then an optional third layer, the rider, which is a separate add-on that pays part of what the IP leaves you to settle yourself, the deductible and co-insurance. Riders are where the 2026 rule change bites, and we cover them in their own section below.
MOH lists seven private insurers offering IPs in 2026. Each sells a range of tiers under one product family, so the brand name alone tells you little. What matters is the tier suffix.
Insurers compete mainly on three things: the panel of specialists you get the best terms with, pre- and post-hospitalisation benefit windows, and the price of their riders. Coverage of the actual hospital bill is broadly similar within the same tier because MOH sets the structure.
| Insurer | IP plan family | Top private-hospital tier |
|---|---|---|
| AIA Singapore | HealthShield Gold Max | Max A (private hospital) |
| Great Eastern | GREAT SupremeHealth | P Plus (private hospital) |
| HSBC Life | HSBC Life Shield | Plan A (private hospital) |
| Income Insurance | Enhanced IncomeShield | Preferred (private hospital) |
| Prudential | PRUShield | Premier (private hospital) |
| Raffles Health Insurance | Raffles Shield | Private (private hospital) |
| Singlife | Singlife Shield | Plan 1 (private hospital) |
Before comparing brands, decide the tier. Every insurer offers roughly the same ladder, and your premium roughly doubles at each rung up.
Private-hospital plans give you the most choice of hospital and specialist, but they also draw the steepest premium increases as you age. Class A plans cover Class A wards in public hospitals (single room, choose your doctor) and are markedly cheaper for life. Class B1 plans are cheaper still. There is also a Standard IP, a price-controlled plan MOH designed for Class B1, with benefits fixed across all insurers so the only difference is the premium.
Knowing the MediShield Life floor tells you what the IP is actually buying you. For admissions on or after 1 June 2026, MediShield Life pays up to $200,000 per policy year with no lifetime limit. It covers a normal ward at up to $830 per day, plus an extra $800 per day for the first two days, and intensive care at up to $5,140 per day. Implants are covered up to $7,000 per treatment.
You only claim above the deductible, and you co-pay a share of the rest. The deductible is a once-a-year fixed amount; the co-insurance is 10% falling to 3% as the bill grows. These figures are the base for everyone, IP or not.
| Treatment / ward | Age 80 and below | Age 81 and above |
|---|---|---|
| Class C ward | $2,000 | $2,750 |
| Class B2 / B1 ward | $2,500 | $3,500 |
| Day surgery | $1,500 | $2,000 |
This is the part most comparison articles get wrong because they predate it. From 1 April 2026, new IP riders sold can no longer cover the minimum IP deductible set by MOH, and they must leave you with a co-payment of at least 5% of the bill. That co-payment is capped: MOH requires insurers to cap it at a minimum of $6,000 per policy year, raised from the $3,000 minimum cap set in 2018. The cap applies on top of the deductible, and insurers can make it conditional on using a panel doctor or getting pre-authorisation, so going off-panel without approval can remove the cap.
In plain terms, the era of the 'zero-dollar' rider where the insurer paid the entire bill is over for new buyers. The point is to make people think twice before over-treating, which is what drove premiums up. According to MOH, between December 2021 and December 2024 private-hospital rider premiums rose by an average of 17.2% a year and private-hospital IP premiums by an average of 8.6% a year.
If you already hold an older full-coverage rider, you keep it for now: insurers stop selling non-compliant riders from 1 April 2026, but existing holders are not dropped on that date. MOH requires you to move onto a compliant rider no later than your next policy renewal after 1 April 2028, and each insurer decides its own approach for existing policyholders in the meantime. The trade-off is price: MOH estimates the new private-hospital riders are about 30% cheaper on average than the old maximum-coverage riders, an average saving of around $600 a year on a private-hospital rider and around $200 on a public-hospital rider. Some insurers have launched cheaper panel-restricted riders; Prudential, for example, says its new riders are at least 30% more affordable, with its preferred-panel rider at least 45% cheaper.
So the rider decision in 2026 is no longer 'pay extra to owe nothing'. It is 'pay extra to cap your worst-case year at the rider cap, at least $6,000, instead of an open-ended 10% co-insurance on a six-figure private bill'. For a peer weighing this against an emergency fund, the cap is the thing you are buying.
A real surprise for first-time buyers is that the IP premium is not fully payable from MediSave. The MediShield Life base portion is fully MediSave-payable. The insurer's top-up portion is only MediSave-payable up to the Additional Withdrawal Limit (AWL); anything above that is collected from you in cash.
The AWL is set by age next birthday (ANB). For 2026 it is $300 if you are 40 or younger, $600 if you are 41 to 70, and $900 if you are 71 or older. Rider premiums are never MediSave-payable, they are always cash.
This is why a young adult on a private-hospital plan often pays only a small cash top-up while MediSave absorbs the rest, but the cash component grows sharply with age as the premium outpaces the AWL. When you budget for an IP, treat the rider plus the above-AWL slice as a recurring cash bill, not a MediSave deduction. Slot it into your monthly budget the same way you would any other premium.
| Age next birthday | Max MediSave per year for the IP top-up |
|---|---|
| 40 and below | $300 |
| 41 to 70 | $600 |
| 71 and above | $900 |
Coverage inside one tier is largely standardised, so the thing that actually varies between brands is how the insurer behaves when you claim. MOH publishes two service measures on its comparison page, and they are the closest thing to an objective tie-breaker once you have fixed your tier.
The first is how fast a claim is settled. For claims in the first quarter of 2026, AIA, Great Eastern, HSBC Life and Income settled half of all claims the same day, while Prudential, Raffles Health and Singlife took a median of one day. The spread widens at the 75th percentile, the slower quarter of claims: Great Eastern cleared even those the same day, most others took one to three days, and Raffles Health took up to five.
The second is pre-authorisation, the approval you get before a planned procedure so you know the insurer will pay and you keep the best terms. Insurers that offer it target a three-working-day turnaround. Two do not offer it at all: Income has no pre-authorisation process, and Singlife stopped offering it on 9 September 2023. That matters because riders often make the co-payment cap conditional on pre-authorisation, so a plan without it can change how your worst-case bill behaves.
| Insurer | Median days to settle | 75th percentile days |
|---|---|---|
| AIA Singapore | 0 (same day) | 1 |
| Great Eastern | 0 (same day) | 0 (same day) |
| HSBC Life | 0 (same day) | 1 |
| Income Insurance | 0 (same day) | 1 |
| Prudential | 1 | 2 |
| Raffles Health Insurance | 1 | 5 |
| Singlife | 1 | 3 |
Buyers tend to picture the rare denied cancer claim, but MOH's own breakdown of why IP claims are not paid tells a calmer and more useful story. The single biggest reason, by a wide margin, is simply that the bill came in at or below the deductible, so there was nothing for the insurer to pay yet. The next is a general exclusion the policy never covered in the first place.
Read the other way round, this is a checklist of what an IP does not do for you. It does not pay small bills under the deductible, it does not cover things written out as exclusions, and it can decline a pre-existing condition you did not declare or that was loaded at entry. Knowing this stops two common mistakes: assuming every hospital visit triggers a payout, and assuming an IP replaces the cash you still need on hand for the deductible. That cash buffer belongs in your emergency fund, sized before you ever lean on the policy.
Within private-hospital tiers, two structural details decide how much of a large bill the plan absorbs. The first is whether benefits are paid 'as charged' or capped at fixed daily and per-treatment limits. Top private-hospital tiers usually pay as charged up to a high policy-year limit, while cheaper plans within the same family revert to fixed daily caps that can fall short on a long or complex stay.
The second is the panel. Each insurer sets a yearly claim limit that is higher when you use a panel specialist and lower, sometimes halved, when you go off-panel without pre-authorisation. The panel is also where the rider co-payment cap usually applies. So 'as charged on a panel doctor' and 'capped at half the limit off-panel' can be the same plan behaving very differently, depending on the doctor you choose. Check the exact policy-year limit, the as-charged versus daily-cap structure, and the panel rules in each insurer's product summary before you compare prices, because a lower premium on a daily-cap plan is not the same product as an as-charged one.
Once you have fixed the tier, the brands are close enough that a handful of details decide it. Use MOH's official comparison page and the insurers' product summaries rather than a salesperson's slide, because the numbers there are standardised and dated.
Run the comparison on these points, in order of how much they affect you.
For a young working adult, the case for a private-hospital IP is weaker than the sales pitch suggests. MediShield Life plus a Class A or B1 plan already gives you a public-hospital single room and the right to choose your doctor, at a fraction of the lifetime cost. A private-hospital plan mainly buys speed and the choice of a private facility.
A reasonable default for most peers in their 20s and 30s is a Class A plan with a 5%-co-payment rider, which keeps your worst-case year capped while keeping premiums affordable as you age. Step up to private-hospital only if you have a specific reason and the cash to sustain the premium for life, because downgrading later is easy but upgrading after a diagnosis may not be possible.
Whatever tier you pick, an IP is not your whole insurance plan. It pays hospital bills; it does not replace income if you cannot work or pay a lump sum on a major diagnosis. Pair it with term life and consider critical illness cover, and see the wider picture in our insurance guide.
There is no single best plan, because MOH standardises the structure within each ward tier, so the plans are close. Pick the tier first (private hospital, Class A, or Class B1), then compare insurers on lifetime premium, panel size, and rider price using MOH's official comparison page. For most young adults a Class A plan with a 5% co-payment rider is the sensible default.
It depends on your age and tier. The MediShield Life base is fully payable from MediSave. The insurer's top-up portion is MediSave-payable only up to the Additional Withdrawal Limit ($300 if you are 40 or younger, $600 if 41 to 70, $900 if 71 or older in 2026), and anything above that is cash. Rider premiums are always cash. Premiums rise steeply with age, especially on private-hospital plans.
From 1 April 2026, new riders can no longer cover the minimum IP deductible and must leave you with at least a 5% co-payment. That co-payment is capped at a minimum of $6,000 per policy year (up from $3,000 set in 2018), and insurers can make the cap conditional on using a panel doctor or getting pre-authorisation. Full 'zero-dollar' riders are no longer sold to new buyers; existing holders move onto a compliant rider by their next policy renewal after 1 April 2028.
Only partly. The MediShield Life base is fully MediSave-payable. The insurer's top-up is MediSave-payable up to the Additional Withdrawal Limit for your age, with the excess collected in cash. Rider premiums are never MediSave-payable and must be paid in cash.
Not necessarily. MediShield Life covers subsidised Class B2/C wards in public hospitals. You only need an IP if you want a higher ward class (B1 or A) or a private hospital. If you are comfortable with a B2/C ward and public-hospital subsidies, MediShield Life alone may be enough.
The IP is the main policy that pays your hospital bill for a higher ward or private hospital. The rider is a separate add-on that pays part of what the IP leaves you, the deductible and co-insurance. After 1 April 2026 riders can no longer cover everything, so even with a rider you pay a 5% co-payment up to the yearly cap.
You can switch insurers or downgrade tiers, but you go through underwriting again, so any new pre-existing conditions can be excluded or loaded. Downgrading is usually straightforward; upgrading after a diagnosis may be refused. Buy the tier you can sustain and avoid relying on changing it later. One trap: do not switch away from a plan that already covers a pre-existing condition, because the new insurer can exclude that same condition.
Usually yes. Employer group hospital cover ends when you leave or lose the job, and it often pays only after other insurance, so a single claim period without it can be expensive. An IP is your own policy that stays with you for life. Buying it while you are healthy and still employed locks in your underwriting; waiting until you leave a job means any condition that appeared in the meantime can be excluded.
Fast, and the gap between brands is small. For claims settled in the first quarter of 2026, AIA, Great Eastern, HSBC Life and Income paid half of all claims the same day, while Prudential, Raffles Health and Singlife took a median of one day. The slower quarter of claims took one to five days depending on the insurer. Use this as a tie-breaker once you have fixed your tier, not as the main reason to pick a plan.
Pre-authorisation is approval the insurer gives before a planned procedure, confirming it will pay and keeping you on the best terms. Insurers that offer it target a three-working-day turnaround. Income does not offer pre-authorisation, and Singlife stopped offering it on 9 September 2023. This matters because riders often make the 5% co-payment cap conditional on getting pre-authorisation, so a plan without it can change how your worst-case bill behaves.
This is general financial information for Singapore, not personal financial advice. Figures change — verify current rates against the official sources above before acting. See our full disclaimer.