SINGAPORE – With medical cost inflation in Singapore projected to hit a record high of 16.9 per cent in 2026, the Life Insurance Association Singapore (LIA) called for collective action to tackle issues such as overconsumption of healthcare services, and to contain rising treatment costs.
This means collaboration is needed between insurers, healthcare professionals and providers, consumers and the authorities.
For a start, all seven Integrated Shield Plan (IP) insurers have to launch new riders by April 1 to meet the Ministry of Health’s (MOH) new requirements.
The new riders will require consumers to pay more out of pocket before insurance kicks in and play a bigger role in sharing the responsibility of tamping down rising costs, said LIA executive director Chan Wai Kit in a media interview on March 30.
Based on responses from four IP insurers earlier, the new riders will be priced, on average, at least 30 per cent lower than existing riders, with one insurer offering premium reductions of up to 84 per cent.
But it remains to be seen whether the lower premiums can indeed move the needle towards more sustainable healthcare, said Mr Chan and Ms Wong Sze Keed, who was re-elected as LIA president on March 30.
Mr Chan said that choosing products offered at the lowest premiums will also mean the coverage will differ.
“If the expectations are not aligned, then you are going to hit the other problem down the road, which is ‘I thought I had this (covered) but actually, because of my decision earlier, I don’t,’” he said.
