Prudential vs AIA vs Great Eastern vs Income Insurance vs Manulife. We compare Singapore's top insurers on their Integrated Shield Plans, life products, premiums and claims, all re-checked against each insurer's own site in September 2026. Includes what changed when MOH's new Integrated Shield Plan rider rules took effect on 1 April 2026.
Five insurers, four Integrated Shield Plans, and one 1 April 2026 rule change that moved money in both directions.
> Quick view: Great Eastern is strongest on paper (AA- from S&P, AA from Fitch). Income is the cheapest route into a private-hospital plan, and 15% off to 31 March 2027. Manulife sells no Shield plan at all. The catch: the new S$6,000 co-payment cap only holds on your insurer's panel.
One of Singapore's largest and longest-established insurers, operating here since 1931. Prudential's PRUShield Integrated Shield Plans are among the most comprehensive available, with strong cashless claims processes at private hospitals, and the insurer repriced its rider line-up when MOH's new rules took effect on 1 April 2026. The replacement riders, PRUExtra Premier Care, PRUExtra Preferred Care and PRUExtra Plus Care, came in at least 30% more affordable than the previous suite across all age groups and plan types, and are now the only options for a plan upgrade or downgrade. Read the other half of that sheet too: from 1 April 2026 Prudential also RAISED premium rates on PRUShield Premier, PRUShield Plus and several PRUExtra plans, for new policies and on renewal, citing healthcare cost inflation. Four older PRUExtra plans have been withdrawn. The PRUActive family covers the core protection range: PRUActive Life V for whole life, PRUActive Term for term cover and PRUActive Crisis Guard for critical illness. Wealth accumulation now sits under the PRUVantage series (PRUVantage Wealth III, PRUVantage Prosper, PRUVantage Assure), which replaced the older PRUWealth branding. BEST FOR: households that want one insurer covering hospitalisation, protection and long-term savings, with an agent to walk them through it.
Live on prudential.com.sg, re-checked Sep 2026. PRUShield EasySwitch: 15% off your first-year premium, campaign 1 Jul–30 Sep 2026 with the policy to be incepted and issued by 30 Nov 2026. Read the gate before you count on it: the 15% applies only if you qualify for simplified issuance (an existing non-Prudential Shield plan, no pre-existing conditions, three health questions instead of a full questionnaire), and proposals that fall to full underwriting get NO discount, and the discount covers only Prudential's portion of the premium, not the MediShield Life portion · 10% off PRUShield Premier or Plus for the first year for Public Service Officers and their dependents (not applicable to PRUExtra supplementary plans) · PRUHospital Care360: lifetime 20% off premiums for PRUShield policyholders · 'Celebrating Bonds, Inspiring Generations VI': single-premium discounts on selected plans. Check the site for each offer's full terms.
Valid till 30 Sept 2026
AIA is a pan-Asian insurance giant with a strong Singapore presence and one of the best digital claims platforms in the market. Its Integrated Shield Plan, AIA HealthShield Gold Max, comes in three tiers: Plan A for private hospitals (S$2,000,000 annual limit), Plan B for Class A restructured wards (S$1,000,000) and Plan B Lite for Class B1 (S$300,000). The real differentiator is AIA Vitality, the wellness programme that turns healthy behaviour into money off your premiums. It costs S$8 a month including GST, and note that it is sold only to existing AIA customers, through the AIA+ app. In the first policy year it is worth more than most write-ups say: an upfront 5% Vitality discount on the first-year premium of selected AIA plans and riders PLUS an additional 5% promotional discount (running to 31 December 2026), so 10% in year one. It is worth less than they say after that. From year two the discount moves with your status (Platinum +2%, Gold +1%, Silver -1%, Bronze -2%) starting from the 5% base, because the extra 5% is first-year only. AIA's own worked example has a member who levels up to Platinum and stays there reaching just 9% by year five; the advertised 15% ceiling takes five straight Platinum years, and a bad year takes the discount DOWN. Vitality members also earn Vitality Coins worth up to 15% of the previous year's premium on AIA Protect 3 and up to 10% on Max VitalHealth Pro riders. AIA repriced those Max VitalHealth riders under MOH's April 2026 rules too. BEST FOR: people who will actually use a wellness app, and anyone who wants digital-first service without agent calls.
AIA Vitality costs S$8/month incl. GST, and is open only to existing AIA customers via the AIA+ app · first-year premium discount on selected AIA plans and riders is 5% + an additional 5% promotional discount = 10%, and that second 5% runs to 31 Dec 2026; from year two it adjusts by Vitality status (Platinum +2%, Gold +1%, Silver -1%, Bronze -2%) off a 5% base, to a 15% maximum, though AIA's own example reaches only 9% by year five · Vitality Coin Boost of up to 15% of the prior year's premium on AIA Protect 3 and up to 10% on AIA Max VitalHealth Pro riders · AIA HealthShield Gold Max Plan A / B / B Lite, up to S$2 million a policy year. Verified on aia.com.sg, re-checked Sep 2026; AIA publishes no dated cash discount on its promotions page.
Valid till 31 Dec 2026
Singapore's oldest insurer, founded in 1908, and still the strongest on paper here: Great Eastern Life Assurance carries an AA- financial strength rating from S&P Global Ratings, affirmed 1 February 2026, AND an AA from Fitch Ratings, affirmed 20 April 2026. That second one is a notch higher, and the rating most roundups leave out. Both are on Stable outlook, both also apply to Great Eastern General Insurance, and the group holds over S$117 billion in assets. It is majority-owned by OCBC and remains listed on SGX after OCBC's take-private attempt fell short of the 75% minority approval it needed in July 2025. Great Eastern is particularly well regarded for its whole life policies and the GREAT SP Series of short-term single-premium endowments for guaranteed savings. GREAT SupremeHealth is its Integrated Shield Plan, and its own product page now lists five tiers, not the four most roundups name: Standard, B Plus, A Plus, P Prime and P Plus. P Plus covers private hospitals and Class A wards with a S$1.5 million annual limit; P Prime is the tier worth knowing about, a cheaper private-hospital option that pays in full only at a Partnering Medical Institution such as Mount Alvernia, Raffles Hospital or Thomson Medical Centre. Maximum entry age across P Plus, P Prime, A Plus, B Plus and the GREAT TotalCare 2 riders is 75 next birthday. The GREAT TotalCare 2 riders launched on 1 April 2026 to meet the new MOH requirements, with a S$6,000 co-payment cap that excludes the deductible, and applies only when you are treated at a restructured hospital or by a Panel Provider. BEST FOR: people who weight financial strength and a long-term agent relationship above the last dollar of premium.
Live on greateasternlife.com, re-checked Sep 2026. GREAT CareShield: 20% perpetual premium discount, sign up by 31 Dec 2026 · GREAT Term 2 consumer promotion: 5% premium discount when a Living Care Rider 2 and/or Complete Living Care Rider 2 is attached at application, submitted and incepted between 28 Jan 2026 and 31 Dec 2026 · GREAT Home Protect: up to 10% + 25% off a 2-year plan · GREAT Wealth Advantage 4: an extra 20% campaign Welcome Bonus, but only for sign-ups between 13 Jul and 12 Sep 2026, with the policy in force by 30 Sep 2026, which is the shortest fuse on this page · GREAT TravelCare: up to 40% off · GREAT Bundle of Joy: complimentary family personal accident cover and baby home vaccination. Check the site for each offer's terms.
Valid till 31 Dec 2026
The value pick, but know what you're buying. Income began as a co-operative set up to serve ordinary Singaporeans, and many people still call it NTUC Income, but that structure is gone: NTUC Income Insurance Co-operative transferred its business to Income Insurance Limited on 1 September 2022, a public non-listed company limited by shares. Existing policies carried over unchanged. What has not changed is the pricing: Income remains one of the most affordable insurers in the market, particularly for motor and travel cover, and its Enhanced IncomeShield Integrated Shield Plan, which runs three tiers (Preferred at a S$1,500,000 policy year limit for private hospital, Advantage at S$500,000 for Class A and Basic at S$250,000 for Class B1), undercuts most rivals across the age bands. Income launched two new riders, Optima Care and Essential Care, on 1 April 2026 under MOH's revised framework, and puts them at 32% cheaper on average than the riders they replace. Both use a tiered co-payment model based on whether you are treated by Income's panel, its extended panel or someone else, and the S$6,000 co-payment cap applies only on the panel and extended panel. The old Deluxe Care and Classic Care riders were withdrawn on the same date and can no longer be bought. BEST FOR: cost-conscious Singaporeans who want solid, no-frills cover and will judge an insurer on its premium table rather than its history.
Live on income.com.sg, re-checked Sep 2026. The big one is easy to miss because it sits on the product page, not the promotions page: a one-time 15% WELCOME DISCOUNT on the first-year premium for new Enhanced IncomeShield, Optima Care and Essential Care applications submitted between 1 Apr 2026 and 31 Mar 2027, provided the policy is issued with no exclusions or premium loading. It applies to the private-insurance portion of the main plan and to the entire rider premium, but not to the MediShield Life portion · Complete Life Secure: up to 8% cashback on your first-year premium when bought with an eligible Early Critical Secure rider · TermLife Solitaire: 35% perpetual premium discount · Domestic Helper Insurance: up to 20% off plus 188,000 STAR$® with code GDH188, from $0.60 a day (note: the 55,000 STAR$® figure circulating in roundups belongs to Happy Tails Pet Insurance, not this one). Check the site for each offer's terms and closing date.
Valid till 31 Mar 2027
The Canadian insurer has built a strong Singapore presence with competitive investment-linked products and term life plans. Its ManuProtect Decreasing (II) is the one most people come for: a decreasing term plan whose cover shrinks in step with an outstanding home loan, which makes it a common choice for HDB mortgage protection. You pick the policy term and an assumed interest rate of 1%, 2%, 3%, 4% or 5% to match your loan, premiums are fixed and level for the whole term, and it pays out on death or terminal illness. A ManuProtect Decreasing Lite (II) variant needs no health check-up if you are 50 or under. Note that it is not renewable, because cover simply ends when the term does, so match the term to your loan tenure at the outset. ManuProtect Term (II) is the level-cover sibling, running to age 85: the 5 and 10-year terms are renewable and convertible, so you can renew to 85 or convert to whole life with no medical, and the 11 to 40-year terms are level and convertible. For guaranteed savings, the ManuSave name is gone. The current range is Manulife GrowSecure (no health questions) and Manulife Goal 2026 (I), a 2-year single-premium endowment that is capital guaranteed with potential returns of up to 1.60% p.a. Buyers who want no agent at all can go straight to DIRECT-ManuAssure Term (up to S$400,000) or DIRECT-ManuAssure Life (up to S$200,000). Manulife's digital servicing platform handles policy changes and claims without a branch visit. BEST FOR: mortgage protection, and buyers who would rather configure a plan online than sit through an agent appointment.
Live on manulife.com.sg, re-checked Sep 2026. 8% PERPETUAL premium discount on the base plan and the Total and Permanent Disability Plus Rider (II), carried on the product pages of both ManuProtect Decreasing (II) and ManuProtect Term (II); T&Cs apply and no end date is published. ManuProtect Decreasing (II) adds a further 5% discount for a joint-lives application, which is the usual shape of an HDB loan. Premiums are still quoted per age and sum insured, so get a quote on manulife.com.sg or via an aggregator, because Manulife publishes no premium tables.
Four of the five insurers here sell an Integrated Shield Plan (IP). Manulife does not, so if hospitalisation cover is what you came for, it is not in the running.
| Insurer | Integrated Shield Plan | Top tier | Cover | Policy-year limit |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Prudential | PRUShield | Premier | Private hospitals + all public hospitals | Up to S$2,000,000 |
| AIA | AIA HealthShield Gold Max | Plan A | Private hospitals | S$2,000,000 |
| Income | Enhanced IncomeShield | Preferred | Private hospitals | S$1,500,000 |
| Great Eastern | GREAT SupremeHealth | P Plus | Private hospitals + Class A wards | S$1,500,000 |
Mid and entry tiers step down to Class A and Class B1 wards with correspondingly lower limits: AIA's Plan B (Class A) at S$1,000,000 and Plan B Lite (B1) at S$300,000; Income's Advantage (Class A) at S$500,000 and Basic (B1) at S$250,000; Prudential's Plus (A ward and below) and Standard (B1 and below).
Great Eastern is the one worth reading twice, because most roundups list four GREAT SupremeHealth tiers and its own product page now shows five. Between A Plus and P Plus sits P Prime, a cheaper private-hospital tier that only pays in full at a Partnering Medical Institution (Mount Alvernia, Raffles Hospital and Thomson Medical Centre among them). If you want private cover but not the full-freedom premium, that is the tier nobody tells you about. Maximum entry age across GREAT SupremeHealth P Plus, P Prime, A Plus and B Plus, and the GREAT TotalCare 2 riders, is 75 next birthday.
Headline limits are the least useful number to shop on, though. Almost nobody reaches a seven-figure ceiling. What you actually pay in a normal year is set by the deductible, the co-payment and your rider.
Do the arithmetic before you pick. Say you hold a private-hospital IP with a S$3,500 deductible and take a S$40,000 hospital bill:
How big is the deductible? It depends on ward class *and* your age, and the two published sources differ because they describe different things. Prudential quotes S$1,500 to S$3,500 for the PRUShield base plan depending on age and ward class. Great Eastern publishes the schedule that a new MOH-compliant rider must leave you to pay: S$3,500 in a private hospital or Class A ward, S$2,500 in B1/B2/B2+, S$2,000 in Class C, S$2,500 for non-subsidised and S$2,000 for subsidised day surgery and short-stay wards, plus a higher figure again for some plan types and older policyholders. Treat S$2,000 as the realistic floor for the slice you now carry yourself, not S$1,500.
Against that, rider premiums fell hard. Income puts its Optima Care and Essential Care riders at 32% cheaper on average than the ones they replace, Prudential says its new PRUExtra Care suite came in at least 30% cheaper across all age groups and plan types, and AIA repriced its Max VitalHealth Pro riders too.
One thing no insurer leads with: the base plan did not get cheaper. Prudential raised premium rates on PRUShield Premier, PRUShield Plus and several PRUExtra plans from 1 April 2026 for new policies and on renewal, citing healthcare cost and claims inflation. The rider line fell; the plan underneath it rose. Compare the total, not the rider.
Whatever you pick, get quotes from at least three insurers. Premiums for identical cover routinely differ by hundreds of dollars a year, and switching an IP later can mean re-underwriting if your health has changed in the meantime.
Every price, discount, plan tier and end date on this page was read off the insurer's own website in September 2026: product pages and promotion terms and conditions, not aggregator roundups. Where an insurer publishes nothing (AIA does not put a dated cash discount on its promotions page; Manulife does not publish premium tables), we say so rather than quote a figure from elsewhere. Ratings are taken from Great Eastern's own investor-relations page, which lists the last affirmation date for each agency.
It depends on what you're insuring, and there is no single winner. For life cover and Integrated Shield Plans, Great Eastern, AIA and Prudential are the established Big-3: deepest agent networks, longest track records, and in Great Eastern's case two financial strength ratings, AA- from S&P Global Ratings (affirmed 1 February 2026) and AA from Fitch Ratings (affirmed 20 April 2026). For value, Income Insurance is hard to beat: its Enhanced IncomeShield premiums sit at or near the bottom of the market across most age bands. Note that Income is no longer a co-operative. The old NTUC Income Insurance Co-operative corporatised into Income Insurance Limited on 1 September 2022, so judge it on its actual premiums rather than on its former structure. For digital-first signup with no agent calls, Manulife and FWD are the cleanest. Be wary of headline 'claims approval rate' figures quoted online: the Life Insurance Association Singapore publishes industry-wide payout totals (S$14.23 billion paid to policyholders and beneficiaries in 2025), not comparable per-insurer approval percentages. Always compare quotes from 3+ insurers via a broker like SingSaver or MoneySmart, or directly with each insurer.
Term insurance covers you for a fixed period (e.g. 20 or 30 years) and pays out only if you die during that period. Premiums are much cheaper, but you get nothing back if you outlive the term. Whole life insurance covers you for life and builds a cash value you can withdraw later, and premiums are 5–10× higher. Most Singapore financial planners recommend term insurance for income protection + a separate investment plan, rather than mixing the two via whole life.
MediShield Life covers basic public hospital (B2/C class) bills with significant out-of-pocket costs above S$15,000+ for major surgeries. An Integrated Shield Plan (IP) tops this up to cover private hospitals or A-class wards with much lower out-of-pocket exposure. If you'd want to use a private hospital or have access to specialist consultants, an IP is essentially mandatory. Premiums can be paid from MediSave up to the AWL (additional withdrawal limit).
Yes, but it depends on the product. Term life and travel insurance can be cancelled and switched anytime, with pro-rated refunds. Whole life policies are harder to switch, and surrendering early often loses 30–50% of paid premiums. Integrated Shield Plans can be switched, but you may need to re-underwrite if you've developed health conditions since the original policy. Always have new coverage in place before cancelling the old policy.
Two things, both set by MOH in its 26 November 2025 announcement. First, riders sold from 1 April 2026 onwards are no longer allowed to cover your minimum Integrated Shield Plan deductible, so that first slice of a hospital bill is now yours to pay whatever rider you hold. Great Eastern publishes the schedule that applies to its new plans: S$2,000 in a Class C ward, S$2,500 in Class B1/B2/B2+, S$3,500 in a private hospital or Class A ward, S$2,500 or S$2,000 for day surgery and short-stay wards, and higher again depending on plan type and your age. Second, the minimum co-payment cap rose from S$3,000 a year (set in 2018) to S$6,000 a year, and that cap now excludes the deductible. The minimum 5% co-payment itself is unchanged, and both the deductible and co-payments can still be paid from MediSave subject to withdrawal limits. The trade-off is real money back in your pocket up front: Income says its Optima Care and Essential Care riders, launched 1 April 2026, are on average 32% cheaper than the riders they replace, and Prudential says its new PRUExtra Care riders came in at least 30% cheaper across all age groups and plan types. Read the cap carefully, though. Income applies the S$6,000 limit only when treatment is provided by its panel or extended panel, and Great Eastern only at a restructured hospital or by a Panel Provider. Go outside the panel and there is no cap on your co-payment at all.
It depends on the date you bought it, and the cut-off is 27 November 2025, not 1 April 2026. Riders bought BEFORE 27 November 2025 are left alone for now: Income states plainly that its existing riders continue to cover the main plan's deductible and keep the S$3,000 co-payment limit. Riders bought BETWEEN 27 November 2025 and 31 March 2026 are a different case. Both Income and Prudential say those will be moved onto the MOH-compliant design no later than the first policy renewal after 1 April 2028. Prudential puts it in the same terms for PRUExtra plans submitted in that window. So if you rushed to buy a rider in the months before the deadline specifically to keep the old deductible cover, you bought roughly two extra years of it, not a permanent exemption. Two riders have also been withdrawn outright: Income's Deluxe Care and Classic Care can no longer be bought from 1 April 2026, and existing holders may not switch between them.
Checked on each insurer's own site in September 2026. INCOME: a one-time 15% Welcome Discount on the first-year premium for new Enhanced IncomeShield, Optima Care and Essential Care applications submitted between 1 April 2026 and 31 March 2027, provided the policy is issued with no exclusions or premium loading. It applies to the private-insurance portion of the main plan and the whole rider premium, but not the MediShield Life portion. Also a 35% perpetual discount on TermLife Solitaire and up to 8% cashback on a first-year Complete Life Secure premium. PRUDENTIAL: 15% off the first-year premium via PRUShield EasySwitch, for applications submitted 1 July to 30 September 2026 with the policy incepted by 30 November 2026, but only if you qualify for simplified issuance. Separately, 10% off PRUShield Premier or Plus for the first year for Public Service Officers and their dependents, and 15% off a first-year PRUActive Protect II premium. GREAT EASTERN: 20% perpetual discount on GREAT CareShield if you sign up by 31 December 2026, and 5% off GREAT Term 2 when a Living Care Rider 2 is attached. MANULIFE: 8% perpetual premium discount on the base plan and TPD Plus Rider (II) for ManuProtect Term (II) and ManuProtect Decreasing (II), plus a further 5% for a joint-lives application. AIA: no dated cash discount, but Vitality members get 5% off the first-year premium plus an additional 5% first-year promotional discount on selected plans and riders, that second 5% running to 31 December 2026.
