CMFAS HI Exam Guide: Health Insurance Module

The Health Insurance (HI) module is the paper you need before you can advise on or sell health insurance in Singapore: medical expense plans, disability income, long-term care, critical illness and managed healthcare. The Singapore College of Insurance (SCI) runs it under MAS Notice 117.

It is a short paper with a wide syllabus. Fifty questions have to cover 15 chapters, so every chapter is worth about three questions and none can be skipped.

HI exam format at a glance

Who needs the HI module

SCI states that all life and general insurance intermediaries, and company staff, who advise on or sell health insurance products must pass HI. The requirement comes from MAS Notice 117.

There is one exception. If you only handle products with critical illness or hospital income benefits, you are not required to pass HI, provided you have passed BCP and PGI, or CMFAS M9. Check the current Notice 117 on the MAS website and confirm with your compliance department.

The HI syllabus: 15 chapters

• The system (chapters 1 and 9): the healthcare environment in Singapore and how healthcare is financed.
• The products (chapters 2 to 8): medical expense insurance, group hospital and surgical cover, disability income, long-term care, critical illness, other health products, and managed healthcare.
• How policies work (chapters 10 to 12): common policy provisions, pricing and underwriting.
• Advice (chapters 13 to 15): MAS Notice 120 on disclosure and the advisory process for accident and health products, financial needs analysis, and case studies.

Where candidates lose marks

• Claim calculations. Deductible first, then co-insurance, then any limits. Doing the steps in the wrong order gives a wrong option that is always on the list.
• Look-alike products. Disability income, long-term care and critical illness pay in different ways and for different triggers.
• Government schemes. MediShield Life, MediSave and CareShield Life figures are revised regularly. Learn the current ones from the latest study text, and check the date on anything you read elsewhere.
• The case studies. They test whether you can match a product to a client, not whether you can recite a definition.

How to pass HI first time

The pass mark is 70%, so plan to score higher than that in practice. A mock score that only just clears 70% will not survive a bad day.

• Work by chapter, not by calendar. Read the chapter in the official study text, then drill that chapter's questions until you score 80% or better on it.
• Read every explanation, including for questions you got right. A lucky guess hides a gap you will meet again in the exam.
• Sit full timed mocks before the real paper. 50 questions in 1 hour 15 minutes, in one sitting, with no notes. Timing problems only show up under exam conditions.
• Keep a list of what you got wrong and redo it. Most candidates lose marks on the same few rules again and again.
• Answer everything. There is no negative marking, so never leave a question blank.

Registration, fees and results

You register on the SCI website, where the current fee and the available sittings are listed. We do not quote the fee here because SCI revises it. SCI runs the HI paper as a computer screen examination in English, and holds sittings on weekdays.

SCI issues a result slip, not a certificate. If you fail, you can register to sit the paper again.

Practise for HI

CMFASPrep has HI practice questions for every chapter, with a worked answer on each, and full timed mocks at the real 50-question length. See HI practice questions and mock exams, or start with the free CMFAS mock exam.