Managing healthcare costs in Singapore

At a Glance

Healthcare costs can create strain on your finances

With healthcare costs generally rising over the years, ensuring that you have adequate financial coverage for healthcare related costs is essential.

Get the right coverage to address hospitalisation and medical treatment costs

With appropriate healthcare and critical illness policies in place, you can protect your personal savings and long-term financial plans from the unexpected.

Update your coverage in response to changes in the Cancer Drugs List

With the latest cancer coverage changes, you are no longer 100% covered for outpatient cancer drug treatments and services.

Features & BenefitsHaving an Integrated Shield Plan (IP) allows you to increase your outpatient cancer drug treatment on the Cancer Drugs List (CDL) and cancer drug services coverage by up to 5X the MediShield Life limit.

Adding a rider to your IP allows you to get outpatient cancer drug treatment coverage of up to S$150,000/year for those that are not on the CDL. A rider can also enhance your outpatient cancer drug treatments and cancer drug services by up to 15X the MediShield Life limit.

When getting critical illness coverage, ensure you have 4X your annual income covered. It gives you the option to take time off from work and focus on your recovery in the event of a major cancer. It also allows you to provide for necessary expenses and cost of ongoing medical or rehabilitative care.

With cancer being the leading cause of death in Singapore (28.2%), it is essential to ensure that financial concerns do not stop you from getting suitable and timely treatment. The good news is that getting sufficient cancer coverage can be affordable.

Discover where you’re at:An important first step is to pull all your protection plans into a single view. Log in to digibank and use SGFinDex to assemble all your plans across different providers in one place.

From here, you’ll be able to see if you have an IP to cover your hospitalisation expenses or a Critical Illness plan to give you financial buoyancy in the event of a dread disease diagnosis.

Boost your Medishield Life with an Integrated Shield Plan:With the latest cancer coverage changes, you are no longer 100% covered for outpatient cancer drug treatments and services. You are only covered for cancer drug treatments on the Cancer Drug List (CDL) with MediShield Life. Having an IP allows you to increase your outpatient cancer drug treatment on the CDL and cancer drug services coverage by up to 5X the MediShield Life limit.

To view available IPs and compare features or filter according to your particular needs, visit our DBS Health Marketplace. You can also browse Health Screening packages and CareShield Life Supplements to meet your financial needs for long term care.

Cover your bases with a critical illness plan:When getting critical illness coverage, ensure you have 4X your annual income covered. It gives you the option to take time off from work and focus on your recovery in the event of a major cancer. It also allows you to provide for other daily expenses and ongoing financial commitments.When selecting a Critical Illness (CI) insurance plan, consider the following:

The range of critical illnesses covered
ProtectFirst covers the 5 key critical illnesses (cancer, heart attack, stroke, liver failure and major organ/bone marrow transplantation), as well as life protection and coverage on serious accident¹. eCriticalCare provides you with comprehensive coverage against 37 late-stage critical illnesses and Intensive Care Unit (ICU) hospitalisation (for future unknown diseases, like COVID-19).

Severity - Early or late - stage critical illness claims
Not all CI plans cover early stage conditions. Taking cancer for example, where severity could range from early stage, carcinoma-in-situ to stage 4 where cancer has spread to other areas of the body. For coverage on early stage, you can consider CancerCare, which covers all stages of cancer, even early stages, up to age 75 with a cancer benefit of up to S$150,000².

Single-claim vs multi-claim plans
A single-claim plan will be terminated once a claim has been paid. A multi-claim plan allows you to make a subsequent claim for a different critical illness after a period of time from your first claim.

Wherever possible, insure early while you are in good health, so that you are not subjected to exclusions or loading of premiums.

Get some financial relief when contending with dementia:1 in 10 Singaporeans aged 60 and above has dementia¹ and with increasing life expectancy and a growing population, this number is only expected to rise.

Whether you are caring for a loved one with dementia or concerned about a possible diagnosis, the Dementia Caregiver Protect plan provides you with some financial support in the event of a diagnosis².

Arm yourself with knowledge:Keen to learn more about recent changes to the CDL and its impact to your IP coverage, or how healthcare and CI insurance works? Check out the following articles:


Cancer coverage changes of Integrated Shield Plans	Learn more about how inpatient cancer treatment will be replaced with cancer drug treatment benefit and cancer drug services benefit, as well as changes to the CDL Learn more
Cost of treating cancer in Singapore	If you think the odds will always be in your favour, that youth makes you invincible, or that health insurance is enough, debunk these myths with this article. Learn more
Why cancer insurance is worth considering	Cancer drug spending grow 20% from 2016 to 2019. Find out how you can supplement coverage from government schemes. Learn more
Is Critical Illness insurance necessary?	If you think the odds will always be in your favour, that youth makes you invincible, or that health insurance is enough, debunk these myths with this article. Learn more
Understanding Critical Illness Insurance	Read this article for an overview of how CI insurance policies, early CI policies and multi-pay CI plans can work together to reduce your financial burden in the event of illness. Learn more

Head over to Health Marketplace where you can compare Integrated Shield Plan, CareShield Life Supplement or Protection Plans and pick up a plan that best suits your budget and needs.Compare Now

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Footnotes:Terms and conditions apply, please refer to product summaries and policy contracts for more information. For CI coverage, please refer to your respective Policy Contract(s) as it is subject to each Insurer’s definition.¹Accidental Hospitalisation benefit is conditional on Insured being hospitalised for minimum 6 days with surgery, due to accident that occurred during insurance period.

²Terms and conditions apply. Please refer to your respective Policy Contract(s) for CI coverage as it is subject to CI definition

Disclaimers

The information herein is published by DBS Bank Ltd (“DBS Bank”) and is for general information only and should not be relied upon as financial advice. This publication may not be reproduced or communicated to any other person without prior written permission.

This publication does not take into account the specific investment objectives, financial situation or needs of any particular person. Before entering into any transaction involving any product mentioned in this publication, where applicable, you should seek advice from a financial adviser regarding its suitability for your own objectives and circumstances. If you choose not to do so, you should read the product documents to make an independent assessment and do your own due diligence on the product.

This advertisement has not been reviewed by the Monetary Authority of Singapore.

In Collaboration with Manulife

ProtectFirst, CancerCare and eCriticalCare are issued and underwritten by Manulife (Singapore) Pte. Ltd. ("Manulife") (Reg. No. 198002116D) and distributed by DBS. It is not an obligation of, deposit in or guaranteed by DBS. Buying health insurance products that are unsuitable for you may affect your ability to finance your future healthcare needs. Premiums are not guaranteed and may be adjusted based on future claims experience. Manulife reserves the right to vary premiums at any time by giving 30 days’ written notice to the policyowner before doing so.

These policies are protected under the Policy Owners’ Protection Scheme which is administered by the Singapore Deposit Insurance Corporation (“SDIC”). Coverage for the policy is automatic and no further action is required from you. For more information on the types of benefits that are covered under the scheme as well as the limits of coverage, where applicable, please contact Manulife or visit the Life Insurance Association or SDIC websites (www.lia.org.sg or www.sdic.org.sg)

DBS Insurance Important Notes

Important Information – ProtectFirst

Important Information – CancerCare

Important Information – eCriticalCare

Information is correct as at 21^st Dec 2023.