Singapore’s Hospital prices
What precisely are the differences in price between public and private hospitals? To showcase these differences, we will conduct a comparison between the Gleneagles private hospital, and the Singapore General Hospital, a public one. These are good examples for their respective sector. All public hospitals have the same prices. Private hospitals in Singapore have similar services and options, with a similar range price. For more details on a specific hospital, do not hesitate to check their websites or call them, as all prices are available online. The list of Singapore’s hospitals here.
The different types of wards in Singapore
In Singapore, four different types of rooms exist for the public hospital : C, B2, B1, A, with C being the cheapest, and A the most expensive. This classification only applies for public hospitals, but we showed you the equivalent here for the Gleneagles hospital. An important thing to note is that the care you will receive will be priced depending on the type of room you choose: for a similar service, you will be charged more in a room type A than a room type C.
Premium rooms for private hospitals
The higher the ward type you choose the better the services associated. From B1, a television is provided, toilets are available, and you can choose you meal. With type A, you also have a telephone, toiletries, fully electric bed, and a sleeper unit for accompanying adult for additional charge.
Private hospitals offer premium rooms, with even better services and comfort similar to a luxury hotel, going from 31m² up to 119m². Here the list of premium rooms for the Gleneagles Hospital :
Day time surgery
If you need to have a minor surgical procedure, the prices of the rooms are as followed. In Singapore General Hospital, the prices are shown with and without the possible subsidies. For Gleneagles hospitals, past 4pm the prices double, and this indicates a 4-hour surgery. In case of longer surgeries, you have additional cost per hour. For the prices of surgeries, you can see the different prices here. Estimates of hospital bills are also available on the different hospitals’ websites.
For emergency surgeries or more important surgeries, you need to go to a more specific unit, the high dependency unit (HDU) or intensive care unit (ICU). Generally, HDU have one nurse for 2 patients, and ICU have one nurse for every patient. Here, the prices are shown for Alexandra Hospital for A1 ward, as prices of Singapore General Hospital are not available.
Subsidies and insurance
Singapore has a good health care system, with the Medishield life, Medisave and Medifund systems. You can access this system only if you hold a permanent resident card. If you do, the subsidies apply only to C an B2 type wards in public hospitals and cover only a part of the cost for B1 and A type wards.
If you want to access better wards for more comfort, and already have the permanent resident card, you can subscribe to an integrated shield plan. It is a complementary to the social security. However, if you are an expatriate and do not have the permanent resident card, you need to subscribe to an international insurance. Usually, international insurances cover for higher types of rooms. You need to be careful and make sure that is the case, otherwise you may have to pay out of your pocket. For more advice on your international insurance, you can contact us.
