New IP rider rules just kicked in. Are you actually better or worse off?

If you have private medical insurance, April 1 would have been on your radar.

Private health insurers have put out new Integrated Shield Plan (IP) riders, which comply with requirements by the Ministry of Health (MOH) that were announced in November 2025.

This move was aimed at curbing rising insurance premiums and private healthcare costs. The major effect on policyholders? They will now be required to fork out more in deductibles and co-payments.

The upside is that new IP riders are more affordable than the previous ones. What does this move spell for private insurers, doctors and policyholders?

In this episode of The Usual Place, I speak with Mr Eddy Cheong, CEO at insurance advisory Havend; and Mr Yip Hon Weng, Yio Chu Kang SMC MP and the deputy chairperson for the government parliamentary committee on health.

Highlights (click/tap above):

4:18 Changes to IP riders and plans

8:01 What led to the ‘buffet syndrome’?

12:56 Doctors charging indiscriminately?

14:03 Paying more for your rider than the base plan

18:04 Delaying medical checks?

24:06 How medical inflation got to 16.9%?

26:00 Do you need to ‘insurance-max’?

30:36 Fewer insurers, fewer problems?

Host: Natasha Ann Zachariah (natashaz@sph.com.sg)

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