Healthcare in Singapore: what a doctor actually costs when you're not a citizen

Singapore’s healthcare system is genuinely excellent and, for residents, cleverly subsidised. The catch for newcomers is that almost every piece of advice you will hear — go to the polyclinic, it’s cheaper; MediShield covers you; sign up for Healthier SG — is advice for citizens and permanent residents. On a work pass you are in a different system, and the cheapest option is not the one people will tell you.

Before you read. This is personal experience and opinion, not medical or financial advice. Fees are what the public institutions published on the “last checked” date above and are revised regularly; the links at the end go to the official pages.

The one thing to understand first

Singapore subsidises healthcare by residency status, not by where you go. A citizen at a polyclinic pays a fraction of the real cost because the government pays the rest. A foreigner at the same counter pays the unsubsidised price. This has been the case since 2006, when MOH stopped subsidising foreigners at polyclinics.

The consequence catches almost everyone out:

Adult consultation	Citizen	Permanent resident	Foreigner
Polyclinic (SingHealth)	S$18.50	S$37.50	S$85.35
Polyclinic (NHG, general clinic)	S$18.50	S$42.00	S$81.10
Private GP in the neighbourhood	S$30–80	S$30–80	S$30–80

Read that again: for a foreigner, the polyclinic is roughly double a private GP, and the polyclinic queue is one to three hours against fifteen to forty-five minutes at a GP. The advice to “just go to the polyclinic” is good advice given to the wrong person. Unless you need something a polyclinic does specifically well — a subsidised referral pathway you are not eligible for anyway, or a service your GP doesn’t offer — a neighbourhood GP is cheaper, faster and closer.

Where to go for what

A neighbourhood GP handles the great majority of what you will ever need: coughs, fevers, stomach bugs, skin problems, vaccinations, medical certificates for work, referrals. Expect S$30–80 for the consultation, plus S$10–40 for medication dispensed on the spot — most GP clinics dispense rather than send you to a pharmacy. Find one within walking distance of home and one near the office, and use the same one so someone knows your history.

A 24-hour clinic is for the 2am fever that isn’t an emergency. The heartland chains charge around S$22–28 in the daytime, roughly S$70 from 10pm to midnight, and S$85–110 after midnight, so a realistic late-night visit with medication is S$60–180. Steep, but a fraction of the alternative.

A&E at a public hospital is for genuine emergencies: chest pain, difficulty breathing, serious injury, anything you would call an ambulance for. The attendance fee alone is about S$163–174 before a single test, and it is the same for everyone regardless of status. Waits for non-urgent cases are long by design — the triage system sees the sickest first, and a sprained ankle will sit for hours while it does.

A specialist needs a referral to be worth it. At a public hospital, an unsubsidised first consultation runs S$171–223 depending on the seniority of the doctor, against S$78 for a subsidised permanent resident — foreigners pay the private rate. Private specialists are comparable or higher. Get your GP to refer you rather than self-referring; they will send you to someone appropriate and the notes travel with you.

The schemes that are not yours

Three things you will hear about constantly, all of which are for Singapore citizens and permanent residents only:

MediShield Life, the national health insurance that covers large hospital bills. It runs on CPF, which you do not have as a pass holder.
MediSave, the compulsory medical savings account, for the same reason.
Healthier SG, the national preventive care programme where you enrol with one family doctor and get subsidised screenings and chronic care. Citizens and PRs, invited from 40.

Subsidised ward classes in public hospitals (B2 and C) work the same way: the subsidy is for residents. As a foreigner you are a private patient in a public hospital, which is still often cheaper than a private hospital but nothing like the headline figures you will read in the local press.

The gap is large — the same polyclinic visit costs a permanent resident S$37 rather than S$85 — but PR is not something you can plan around. There is no published set of criteria, no queue you can join, and no timeline. Budget for the foreigner’s cost, and treat anything else as a change in circumstances rather than a plan.

So what insurance do you actually need?

It depends on your pass, and the rules are not what most people assume.

If you are on an Employment Pass, your employer is not required by MOM to provide any medical insurance. Most decent employers do, but it is a benefit, not a legal minimum, which means the quality varies enormously. Read your policy for three things: whether outpatient GP visits are covered or only hospitalisation, what the annual inpatient limit is, and whether dependants are included.

If you are on a Work Permit or S Pass, your employer must provide medical insurance. Since the rules were tightened, that means first-dollar coverage up to S$15,000, an annual claim limit of at least S$60,000, the insurer covering 75% of costs above S$15,000, and direct billing so you are not asked to pay the hospital up front.

In every case, the gap to worry about is a big hospital bill. A serious illness or accident in a private hospital can run into five or six figures, and without MediShield Life there is no national backstop underneath you. A private hospitalisation plan for a healthy adult in their thirties is roughly S$60–120 a month, and family cover S$250–400. Buy it before you need it and before any condition becomes pre-existing — the single most common regret we hear from people who moved here and put it off.

Practical things nobody mentions

Medical certificates. If you are off sick, Singapore workplaces expect an MC from a doctor, and a GP will issue one at the consultation. Telemedicine apps issue them too and are cheaper for the obvious cases.
Pharmacies. Guardian and Watsons are everywhere, but many common medicines are prescription-only here that are over the counter elsewhere. Bring a repeat prescription and its generic name if you take something regularly, and check before you assume you can buy it.
Dental and optical are almost never covered by employer plans. A routine scale and polish is S$80–150.
Vaccinations for travel are done at GP clinics and travel clinics; keep your records, because school and some employers ask.
Ambulance. Call 995 for a genuine emergency; the SCDF ambulance is free if the case is assessed as an emergency and chargeable if it is not. Private ambulances charge regardless.
Keep your receipts. Employer plans and insurers reimburse on submission, and the bill from a public hospital is itemised in a way that makes claiming straightforward.