Panel vs Non-Panel Specialists Under Integrated Shield Plans (2026)

If you have an Integrated Shield Plan (IP), whether your specialist is on your insurer’s panel can change what you pay significantly. It decides whether your co-payment is capped, sometimes how much co-payment you pay, how long your pre- and post-hospital cover lasts, and how much of the hospital deposit your insurer will guarantee. This guide explains how panels work, how each of the seven IP insurers treats panel and non-panel specialists, and how the rules have changed since 2019. Every figure carries its source and date.

How we handle it: before a referral, we tell you whether the specialist is on your insurer’s panel. But our focus is on clinical outcomes, so we match you to the specialist best suited to your case, whether or not they are on your panel.

What a panel is

A panel is the list of doctors and hospitals an insurer works with. MOH describes panels as “another means that insurers use to manage claim costs, by ensuring that doctors on the panel adhere to fee ranges set by the insurer”. In MOH’s words, “seeing a panel doctor typically allows policyholders to enjoy more favourable co-payment terms”, but “all policyholders remain entitled to their full contractual benefits, even if they seek care from a non-panel doctor”. Most insurers have at least 600 private specialists on their panels.

Two more terms matter:

• Extended panel. MOH describes it as “an industry-based framework where policyholders can enjoy key panel benefits even if they seek treatment from selected specialists who are not on their insurer’s main panel”, usually specialists on another insurer’s panel. Each insurer runs it differently, and some require approval for every admission.
• Public hospitals. All seven insurers give treatment at public (restructured) hospitals the same terms as treatment by their panel.

Insurers generally judge panel status by your main treating doctor. Great Eastern is stricter on some plans: if any of your treating doctors is off-panel, you can lose panel-only benefits.

Sources: MOH, About Integrated Shield Plans (updated 30 April 2026), and MOH parliamentary reply on private health insurance (24 September 2025). Insurers’ policy documents as listed below.

What changes off-panel under today’s riders

Riders sold from 1 April 2026 must meet MOH’s new rules. They may not pay the minimum IP deductible (S$3,500 for a private hospital or Class A ward), you pay at least 5% of the rest of the bill, and your co-payment is capped at no less than S$6,000 a year, excluding the deductible. MOH says the cap “only applies to eligible claims such as panel or pre-authorised claims”. So with a panel doctor, the most you pay in a policy year on a new rider is usually S$9,500: the S$3,500 deductible plus the S$6,000 cap. With a non-panel doctor, most insurers apply no cap at all.

Panel status can also change:

• Your co-payment rate. Income’s Optima Care Rider charges 5% with a panel specialist but 8% otherwise, and its Essential Care Rider 7% against 10%. On Great Eastern’s GREAT SupremeHealth P Prime plan, a non-panel doctor or a non-partnering hospital means a S$6,000 deductible and 40% co-insurance, which its rider does not cover. Prudential’s PRUExtra Preferred Care rider pays nothing towards co-insurance for non-panel providers, and does not cover private hospitals on Prudential’s “No Access” list, which includes Mount Elizabeth, Mount Elizabeth Novena, Gleneagles and Farrer Park.
• How much of the hospital deposit is guaranteed. Income, for example, issues Letters of Guarantee of up to S$30,000 for panel and extended-panel specialists but up to S$10,000 otherwise.
• Your base plan’s cover. Several plans give longer pre- and post-hospitalisation cover, and a higher annual limit, when your treatment is with panel providers.

Sources: MOH press release on IP riders (26 November 2025) and its Annex A. Maximum of S$9,500: Singlife Health Plus brochure (26 August 2026). Insurer terms from the documents listed under the tables below.

Insurer by insurer: riders sold from 1 April 2026

Insurer	New rider(s)	With a panel doctor	With a non-panel doctor	S$6,000 cap applies to
AIA	AIA Max VitalHealth Pro A, B and B Lite	5% co-payment, capped	5%, no cap unless pre-authorised or admitted through an emergency department	AIA preferred providers (including public hospitals), pre-authorised and emergency treatment
Great Eastern	GREAT TotalCare 2 (P, A, B and Prime)	5% (the rider pays half of the 10% co-insurance), capped	5%, no cap except for emergency admissions. On P Prime: S$6,000 deductible and 40% co-insurance, not covered by the rider	Restructured hospitals and panel providers (on Prime, a panel provider at a partnering hospital), and emergencies
Income	Optima Care and Essential Care	5% (Optima) or 7% (Essential), capped	Extended panel: 8% or 10%, capped. Others: 8% or 10%, no cap	Panel (including public hospitals), extended panel, and admissions through the same hospital’s emergency department
Prudential	PRUExtra Premier Care, Preferred Care and Plus Care	5% (the rider pays half of the 10% co-insurance), capped	Premier and Plus Care: 5%, no cap. Preferred Care: 10%, and no cover at “No Access” hospitals	Panel providers (including public hospitals), pre-authorised extended panel specialists, and emergencies
Singlife	Singlife Health Plus Private and Public	5% co-payment, capped	5%, no cap	Preferred medical providers (panel specialists and public hospitals) and emergency admissions
HSBC Life	HSBC Life Enhanced Care II	5% co-payment, capped	5%, no cap	Panel specialists and restructured or community hospitals (the brochure names no other route)
Raffles Health Insurance	Raffles Choice Rider	5% co-payment, capped	5%, no cap	Panel and public hospital specialists, and pre-authorised extended panel specialists

Sources: AIA product summary (April 2026 version) and FAQs. Great Eastern benefit schedule and brochure (1 April 2026). Income rider policy conditions (1 April 2026). Prudential brochure (1 April 2026). Singlife rider policy contract (1 April 2026). HSBC Life brochure (1 April 2026). Raffles Health Insurance rider policy conditions (April 2026).

Deposits and annual limits also differ:

Insurer	Letter of Guarantee (deposit waiver)	Higher annual limit with panel providers
AIA	Up to S$50,000 per admission, not tied to panel status. A certificate of pre-authorisation also waives the deposit.	HealthShield Gold Max A: S$2,000,000 against S$1,000,000. From 1 October 2026 this depends on the hospital or facility used.
Great Eastern	Up to S$50,000 at private hospitals and S$80,000 at restructured hospitals, not tied to panel status	P Prime: S$2,500,000 for restructured hospitals and panel providers at partnering hospitals, against S$1,500,000
Income	Up to S$30,000 with panel or extended panel specialists, S$10,000 otherwise, S$50,000 at public hospitals	Same limit. Panel doctors get longer pre- and post-hospital cover: 180 and 365 days, against 100 and 100 on Enhanced IncomeShield Preferred
Prudential	eLOG up to S$10,000, or up to S$30,000 at PRUPanel Connect partner hospitals for Premier Care and Preferred Care	PRUShield Premier: S$2,000,000 against S$1,200,000, if every claim that year is with panel providers
Singlife	Up to S$50,000 with a panel specialist in a private hospital, S$15,000 with a non-panel one, S$80,000 at public hospitals	Plan 1: S$2,000,000 against S$1,000,000
HSBC Life	Panel: up to S$1,000,000 on Plan A, with pre-authorisation. Non-panel: up to S$50,000, or S$100,000 if fees are within MOH’s benchmarks, with pre-authorisation	Plan A: S$2,500,000 against S$1,000,000
Raffles Health Insurance	Accepted at public hospitals and Raffles Hospital. Amounts not published	Raffles Shield Private: S$1,500,000 against S$600,000

Sources: each insurer’s Letter of Guarantee page and policy documents. Several of those pages carry no date, so confirm the current amount with your insurer.

What it means in dollars

Income publishes worked examples for its Enhanced IncomeShield Preferred plan with the Optima Care Rider at a private hospital. They assume the whole bill is claimable.

Bill	Specialist	You pay
S$50,000	Panel	S$5,825: the S$3,500 deductible plus a 5% co-payment of S$2,325
S$100,000	Extended panel	S$9,500: the deductible plus the 8% co-payment, capped at S$6,000
S$100,000	Other specialist	S$11,220: the deductible plus an 8% co-payment of S$7,720, with no cap

For comparison, the same S$50,000 panel bill with no rider costs S$8,150: the deductible plus 10% co-insurance of S$4,650. For typical private hospital bills for a common operation, see our slipped disc surgery cost guide.

Source: Income, Enhanced IncomeShield brochure (correct as at 28 April 2026).

Pre-authorisation

Pre-authorisation means your insurer approves the treatment and its cost before you are admitted. MOH calls it “an administrative arrangement – not a contractual benefit”, and five of the seven insurers offer it. Income does not. Singlife stopped requiring it for its preferred providers on 9 September 2023, and for planned admissions with its panel specialists issues a Pre-admission Assessment Letter instead.

Whether pre-authorisation helps with a non-panel specialist depends on the insurer:

• AIA gives the S$6,000 cap to treatment by any non-preferred doctor once it has issued a certificate of pre-authorisation.
• Prudential and Raffles Health Insurance give panel terms only to extended panel specialists, meaning doctors on another insurer’s panel, and only with approval for each admission.
• Great Eastern issues pre-authorisation only for restructured hospitals and its panel specialists. For submissions from 17 June 2025, it no longer issues it for admissions to Mount Elizabeth Hospital or Mount Elizabeth Novena Hospital.
• HSBC Life uses pre-authorisation, for panel and non-panel specialists alike, mainly to decide its Letter of Guarantee.

Sources: MOH parliamentary reply (24 September 2025). MOH, Comparison of Integrated Shield Plans (updated 5 August 2026). Insurers’ pre-authorisation pages and policy documents.

How the rules changed: three generations of riders

Riders are optional add-ons that pay part of what your IP does not. Their rules have changed twice.

Generation	Sold	Deductible	Your co-payment	Yearly cap
Full riders	Until 31 March 2019	Paid by the rider	None	Not needed
Co-payment riders	1 April 2019 to 31 March 2026	Usually paid by the rider	At least 5%	Typically S$3,000, for panel doctors (some insurers also for pre-authorised claims)
Today’s riders	From 1 April 2026	You pay the minimum (S$3,500 for private)	At least 5%	At least S$6,000, excluding the deductible, for eligible claims such as panel or pre-authorised

Full riders. These covered “the entire co-payment under the IP plan, so the policyholder ends up paying nothing regardless of the bill size”, as MOH put it in March 2018, when about 29% of Singapore residents held one. MOH linked them to a “buffet syndrome”: in 2016, average bills for full-rider policyholders were about 60% higher than for those without riders. It announced a co-payment requirement for all new riders on 7 March 2018. People who bought a full rider between 8 March 2018 and 31 March 2019 had to move to a co-payment rider by 1 April 2021, and insurers added co-payment to older full riders from April 2021 too, although MOH did not require it.

Co-payment riders (2019 to 2026). New riders had to include at least 5% co-payment from 1 April 2019. MOH has since described them as “typically capped at $3,000 a year for treatments from panel doctors”, and some insurers extended the cap to pre-authorised claims with non-panel doctors. These riders commonly paid your deductible as well.

Today’s riders (from 1 April 2026). MOH announced the change on 26 November 2025: new riders may not cover the minimum deductible, and the cap rises from S$3,000 to at least S$6,000. MOH’s own example is a S$56,900 knee replacement at a private hospital. The patient’s share was S$2,840 with an existing rider and S$6,170 with a new one (the S$3,500 deductible plus 5% of the rest), and in MOH’s example MediSave paid both in full. On average, new riders with maximum coverage cost around 35 to 40% less than the old ones.

Sources: MOH Committee of Supply speech (7 March 2018). MOH parliamentary replies (26 February 2021, 10 May 2021 and 21 April 2023). MOH press release and Annex B (26 November 2025). MOH, new IP riders page (updated 4 May 2026).

Panel terms on older riders

If you bought a rider before 1 April 2026, its panel terms follow the 2019 to 2026 design. For riders sold until 31 March 2026:

Insurer	Rider(s)	S$3,000 cap applied to	Off-panel
AIA	AIA Max VitalHealth and VitalCare (VitalHealth A Value: 10% co-payment and a S$6,000 cap at private hospitals)	Preferred providers, pre-authorised and emergency treatment	Co-payment uncapped
Great Eastern	GREAT TotalCare P Signature, P Optimum, A, B, Basic A and Basic B	Restructured hospitals and panel providers, as a “Loss Limit” on everything you pay: S$3,000, or S$3,500 on Basic plans and S$6,500 on P Optimum with panel providers	No Loss Limit except for emergency admissions. On P Signature, the deductible is not covered either
Income	Deluxe Care, Classic Care, Plus and Assist	Panel and extended panel	An extra “extended panel and non-panel payment” of up to S$2,000 a year, and no cap on co-payment with non-panel doctors
Prudential	PRUExtra CoPay riders	Panel providers, extended panel and emergencies (“stop-loss”)	Premier and Preferred CoPay: you pay the first S$2,000 of the deductible plus 5% of the rest of it, and no stop-loss applies
Singlife	Singlife Health Plus Prime, Private Cover and Lite	Preferred providers and emergency admissions	Prime: S$1,000 deductible for inpatient stays (Private Cover: S$500)
HSBC Life	HSBC Life Enhanced Care	Panel specialists and restructured hospitals	S$1,500 deductible and no cap
Raffles Health Insurance	Raffles Key Rider	Panel and public hospital specialists, and pre-authorised extended panel	Co-payment uncapped

Sources: AIA FAQs. Great Eastern renewal FAQ appendices (20 February 2024) and plan-switch guide (4 February 2026). Income rider policy conditions (April 2026) and panels comparison page (12 December 2025). Prudential PRUExtra CoPay brochure (1 May 2025). Singlife rider policy contracts (1 April 2026). HSBC Life brochure (1 February 2024). Raffles Key Rider policy conditions (April 2026).

If you still hold an older rider

MOH requires only riders bought between 27 November 2025 and 31 March 2026 to move to the new rules, no later than the first renewal after 1 April 2028. For riders bought before 27 November 2025, MOH says: “It is up to insurers to adjust the terms of legacy riders over time.” For now, all seven insurers say existing holders keep their current terms. Income, for example, says an existing rider “will continue to cover the IP main plan’s deductible and the co-payment limit remains at $3,000”, and lets holders switch to its new riders without underwriting until 31 March 2028, with no switching back. AIA and Prudential say they will give at least 31 and 30 days’ notice of any change.

Sources: MOH parliamentary reply on legacy riders (8 September 2026). Insurers’ FAQs on the 2026 rider changes, including Income’s (1 April 2026).

Before you book a specialist

• Ask the clinic whether the specialist is on your insurer’s panel or extended panel, and check the insurer’s own list, which can change without notice.
• Check the hospital too. Some plans depend on it, such as Great Eastern’s partnering hospitals on P Prime and Prudential’s “No Access” list for Preferred Care. AIA’s annual limits move to a hospital and facility basis from 1 October 2026.
• If your specialist is off-panel, ask your insurer whether pre-authorisation or an extended panel arrangement would give you panel terms.
• Ask about a Letter of Guarantee or pre-authorisation, which can reduce the deposit you pay on admission.
• Remember that on every new rider the minimum deductible, S$3,500 for a private hospital or Class A ward, is yours to pay, panel or not.

This guide explains insurers’ published terms. It is not financial advice and does not recommend any insurer or plan. Terms differ between plans and change often, so check your own policy documents and ask your insurer before treatment.