If you’re looking into mental-health insurance and hospitals in Singapore, here’s a breakdown of how things currently work — what’s covered, what kind of institutions offer care, and what you should watch out for.
✅ Key Hospitals / Institutions
One of the main specialist hospitals for mental health in Singapore is:
Institute of Mental Health (IMH)
- IMH offers assessment, treatment (outpatient + inpatient) for children, adolescents, adults and elderly.
- Also, many of the major public (restructured) hospitals in Singapore provide acute mental health services (outpatient & inpatient) in partnership.
- So when picking a hospital, you can choose a public hospital with psychiatric services + IMH if appropriate.
🛡️ Insurance / Financial Coverage for Mental Health
Here is how the insurance / financing side works in Singapore for mental-health treatments:
- The government scheme MediShield Life covers inpatient psychiatric treatment, but with limitations. For example, for inpatient psychiatric treatment up to ~35 days per year under certain conditions.
- The scheme MediSave (health-savings component of the CPF) can also be used for certain mental-health outpatient treatments / chronic disease programme under the Chronic Disease Management Programme (CDMP) for conditions such as anxiety, schizophrenia etc at polyclinics / specialist outpatient clinics.
- Private insurers are increasingly offering mental-health coverage (e.g., for major mental illnesses) though with specific conditions/exclusions.
- For example, the insurer AIA Singapore announced enhanced mental-health inpatient coverage for its corporate insurance plans from 2025.
- One plan called the SNACK Self Care Pack (by NTUC Income) offers monthly subscription coverage for psychiatric consultation and psychotherapy.
⚠️ Things to Check / Limitations
- Outpatient mental-health treatments (psychiatrist / psychologist / therapy) are less comprehensively covered by many standard plans. Many insurance policies focus more on inpatient treatment than outpatient.
- Pre-existing mental-health conditions (i.e., you already have a diagnosis) may affect eligibility, coverage or cost. One reddit user wrote: “Most policies do not even cover mental health …”
- The “ward class” (public hospital B2/C vs A/B1 vs private hospital) matters for how much subsidy or insurance payout one receives. For example, MediShield Life covers public hospital ward B2/C for inpatient psychiatry.
- Always check which conditions are covered (e.g., major depressive disorder, bipolar, OCD) and how many sessions/what monetary cap for outpatient therapy.
If you like, I can look up a list of specific hospitals in Singapore (public and private)