Some Clarifications for AIA Singapore’s Shield Plan Coverage

The following is a clarification, by AIA Singapore, on the Integrated Shield Plans insurer panels. 

AIA Singapore has been at the forefront of implementing the recommendations put forth by the Health Insurance Task Force (HITF), playing their part to manage rising claims costs and healthcare inflation in Singapore.  This includes constantly expanding AIA Singapore’s preferred healthcare provider panel, the AIA Quality Healthcare Partners (AQHP), into one of the largest specialist panels in the IP market.  AIA Singapore has amongst the largest preferred healthcare provider panels in Singapore with over 400 private specialists and all public sector specialists.  Representation across all key subspecialty areas of expertise AIA Singapore customers will need is also thoroughly covered. 

The general criteria AIA Singapore uses for selection of AQHP are on the AIA website: AIA Singapore HealthShield Support, under the AIA Quality Healthcare Partners section.  AIA Singapore’s general criteria for recruitment of doctors into the AQHP programme are that they possess a minimum of 5 years specialist practice experience, and a clean professional track record. 

Additionally, AIA Singapore also considers the doctor’s practice patterns based on AIA Singapore’s claim records.  AIA Singapore sizes the required number of specialists for each specialty, taking into consideration claim patterns, size of client base, and the need for adequate capacity at subspecialty and facility level.  AIA Singapore’s panel fees are aligned with the Ministry of Health’s (MOH) fees benchmarks to ensure consistency in charges to customers.  Since each patient is different, AIA Singapore allows deviation from the agreed fees should the case be more complex than the norm. 

AIA Singapore have put in place a systematic recruitment cycle in order to make sure that every application is assessed consistently and efficiently.  Non-AQHP doctors who have an interest in joining can indicate their interest by writing to sg-provider@aia.com.  This is part of AIA Singapore’s commitment to provide greater transparency and is in line with the Life Insurance Association (LIA) Singapore’s recent update on good practices on panel of preferred healthcare providers published on 29^th March 2021.  AIA Singapore has added 37 private specialists to its AQHP panel to date, in 2021.  This is in addition to the 78 private specialists who were added to the panel in 2020, and 66 private specialists who were added in 2019.  AIA Singapore will continue to grow our panel to ensure that our customers will have access to quality healthcare. 

This panel is comprehensive and of high quality, but policyholders should not feel compelled to see a panel doctor if they would prefer to see a doctor who is not on the AIA Singapore panel.  AIA Singapore plans have been designed to ensure that the benefit difference between seeing a panel and non-panel doctor does not make it prohibitive for customers to see a non-panel doctor. 

AIA Singapore’s new co-pay riders have the same deductible, if applicable, for treatment by both panel and non-panel doctors. 

AIA Singapore’s co-payment is capped at $3,000 per policy year when the insured receives treatment from an AQHP specialist or a public hospital.  If the insured chooses to receive treatment from a non-panel doctor, the co-payment will also be capped at $3,000 per policy year if the treatment is pre-authorised. 

Premium loading under claim-based pricing, only available for policyholders of AIA Max VitalCare rider, is the same regardless of whether the claim is from seeing panel or non-panel doctors. 

Having said that, policyholders who use AIA Preferred Providers, comprising AIA Singapore’s private panel as well as the restructured hospitals, instead of private non-panel doctors, would still benefit from a higher annual limit and a longer period of pre- and post-hospitalisation cover. 

Even with AIA Singapore’s own panel in place, AIA Singapore continues to see value in engaging and having active discussions with the broader healthcare provider ecosystem, including non-panel doctors, public hospitals, private hospitals and day surgery centres to explore how they can work together to better manage healthcare costs.  A successful example of this is in making pre-authorisation available for all non-panel doctors. 

To go above and beyond the industry recommendations, AIA Singapore have also invested in providing customers more value and choice, including exclusive value-added services.  These are collectively part of AIA Singapore’s larger healthcare proposition to promote healthy lifestyles, screening, early detection, and early intervention across the entire healthcare journey from end to end. 

AIA was the first insurer in Singapore to establish direct relationships with healthcare providers, enabling the enhancements of health insurance benefits and better treatment pricings to give AIA Singapore customers the best possible care without excessive costs. 

Making pre-authorisation available for all private hospital admissions and day surgeries to provide customers with financial assurance that their claim will be paid and help ensure that treatment and charges are in line with norms.  Pre-authorisation also enables policyholders to benefit from an annual cap on their co-payment regardless of whether they seek care from a panel or non-panel doctor, thereby giving our customers more choice. 

AIA Singapore established an exclusive partnerships with WhiteCoat, an on-demand tele-medicine provider, for policyholders who need access to General Practitioners (GP) services, as well as Medix, a personal medical case management service, for customers facing serious medical conditions.  The advice that AIA Singapore healthcare partners provide is independent of AIA Singapore and focuses solely on what is most appropriate for our customer’s needs. 

AIA Singapore  is also continuing to enhance its pioneering AIA Vitality wellness programme which inspires individuals to make real changes to their health every day. 

Prior to the extension of IP coverage announced by the LIA Singapore, the AIA HealthShield Gold Max (HSG Max) plan already covered complications arising from any vaccination that results in hospitalisation, including but not limited to COVID-19, as long as the vaccine used is approved by the Health Sciences Authority (HSA), and the insured is medically eligible to receive the vaccine.  This is a longstanding policy entitlement and remains unchanged. 

MOH has recently announced the formation of a committee to look into matters related to IP, including the issue surrounding insurers' panel doctors.  AIA Singapore will continue to collaborate with the MOH committee, LIA Singapore, the Singapore Medical Association and the Academy of Medicine to discuss and implement ways to further improve AIA Singapore’s AQHP panel.