Singapore – With medical cost inflation in Singapore expected to reach a high of 16.9 percent by 2026, the Life Insurance Association of Singapore (LIA) has called for collective action to address issues such as high consumption of healthcare services, and rising medical costs.
This means collaboration between insurers, healthcare professionals and providers, consumers and authorities.
To begin with, all seven Integrated Shield Plan (IP) insurers must introduce new riders by April 1 to meet Ministry of Health (MOH) new requirements.
LIA chief executive Chan Wai Keat said in a media interview on March 30 that 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 reducing rising costs.
Based on responses from four IP insurers earlier, new riders will be priced on average at least 30 percent lower than existing riders. One insurer is offering a premium reduction of up to 84 percent.
But it remains to be seen whether lower premiums can really move the needle toward more sustainable health care, said Mr. Chan and Ms. Wong Says Kidd, who was reappointed as LIA president on March 30.
Mr. Chan said Choosing products offered at lower premiums will mean that the coverage will vary.
“If the expectations aren’t right, you’re going to have another problem down the road, which is, ‘I thought I had it covered but actually, because of my decision, I didn’t,'” he said.
Ms Wong, who is also the CEO of AIA Singapore, said: “Fundamentally, even if you think affordability is an issue, you also have to understand what (A driver) covered … I think the process is very important.
To address rising insurance and private healthcare costs by instilling discipline in healthcare spending, especially for minor procedures, the MOH has ordered that new IP riders sold from April 1 can no longer cover the minimum IP deductible set by the ministry.
This means that those with new riders must pay at least $1,500 before insurance coverage begins.
In addition, the co-payment limit will be doubled from the current $3,000 to $6,000, requiring policyholders to pay a larger portion of their bills.
Medical spending is expected to continue to rise globally in 2026, with the Asia-Pacific region reporting the highest increase of 14 percent, according to the 2026 Global Medical Trends Report published in November 2025 by global consulting, broking and solutions firm WTW.
According to the report, Singapore is expected to overtake Indonesia as the Asia-Pacific market with the highest medical inflation at 16.9 percent.
Previous WTW reports showed that medical inflation in Singapore was below 10 percent until 2024, when it rose to 12.3 percent, and increased to 15.5 percent in 2025.
Factors leading to high medical inflation here include an aging population. acquisition of expensive new technologies, treatments and medicines; and higher operating costs caused by a shortage of health care workers due to rising real estate prices and wages.
The Global Asia Insurance Partnership (GAIP), a non-profit tripartite partnership of the insurance industry, regulators and academia, said the health care gap in Asia – the difference between health care costs, including insurance, and available financial resources – is now the largest protection gap. This is comparable to other gaps such as mortality and disaster protection gaps.
“In Singapore, the debate is not only about medical inflation, but also about broader trends in health care spending, including utilization, how care is delivered, and what this means for long-term affordability,” said Ms Min Hong Cheng, CEO of GAIP.
Re-elected members of the Management Committee of the Life Insurance Society of Singapore: (from left) Mr Alastair Chamberlain, Mr Andrew Yeo, Mr Gregory Hengston, Ms Perlin Faw, Ms Wong Says Kidd, Ms Chan San San, Mr Harpreet Bindra, and Mr Frank O’Neill (Mr Beatrice). They were joined by LIA Singapore CEO Mr. Chan Wai Keat.
Photo: Life Insurance Society, Singapore
GAIP will release its research paper on April 7 on health care affordability and insurance sustainability.
The LIA Management Committee also shared its top priorities for the one-year term of office following the March 30 election.
In addition to collaborating with stakeholders and enhancing public education, particularly in the areas of wealth and health protection, LIA will launch a series of financial literacy workshops for students in higher education institutions in partnership with the Insurance College of Singapore.
from April, Interactive, individual workshops will be conducted for students at ITE College Central and Republic Polytechnic to equip them with practical financial knowledge. LIA hopes to work with other agencies on this program.
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