What is Careshield Life?
CareShield Life helps in covering long-term care expenses that arise from having a disability. To boost your disability protection and benefits, you can upgrade your CareShield Life with supplements from these three private insurers: Great Eastern Life, Singlife with Aviva, and NTUC Income.
CareShield Life Vs. ElderShield
When tragedy hits and you become disabled, the last thing you need is to face financial constraint. CareShield Life, a new scheme that takes over ElderShield, is a long-term care insurance plan that aims to reduce the costs of personal and medical care should you become severely disabled.
The first key difference between the two schemes is that CareShield Life is mandatory, whereas ElderShield is not. All Singaporean citizens and permanent residents who are at least 30 years old or who were born in 1980 or later are enrolled automatically.On the other hand, people born in 1978 and earlier can opt in & out.
How to qualify for CareShield Life?
For you to be eligible for CareShield Life, you must be classified as severely disabled, which means you’re unable to perform at least three of the following six ADLs: bathing, dressing, eating, toileting, getting in and out of bed, and transferring.
Once you qualify for CareShield Life, you’ll receive payments starting at S$600 per month as long as you’re seriously disabled and these monthly payouts will rise yearly until you turn 67 years old (or when a claim is successfully made, whichever comes first).
The payouts are expected to grow by 2% yearly from 2020 until 2025. Your payouts will continually grow after 2025, and subsequent changes will be determined by an independent council later on.
However, once your first CareShield Life successful claim is approved, your monthly payout will remain the same all throughout your disability. In other words, even if there are some changes made to payouts, you will continue to receive the same amount.
It’s also important to keep in mind that your monthly payouts stay fixed at S$617 if you’re 67 or older or when the plan becomes available to you.
Should you upgrade your CareShield Life plan?
Your MediSave account can be used to pay for the CareShield Life premiums and keep it at a comparatively low maintenance.The fact that increasing your Careshield Life coverage requires no out-of-pocket costs is a great factor to consider upgrading your careshield.
Furthermore, anyone from your family members can pay the premium:
- Spouse
- Parents
- Children
- Siblings
- Grandchildren
As long as you don’t exceed the annual limit of $600 per insured, your CPF MediSave can be used to pay your premiums. If the premium is higher than the cap, then a cash payment is necessary to cover the amount.
However, realistically speaking, $600 a month is just nothing when it comes to all the costs related to disability, especially if your illness is serious (Keep in mind that in order to file a claim with CareShield Life, you must be unable to do at least three of the six ADLs).
In addition, it is important to remember that other than for treatments or medication, you may need to pay for extra expenses such as hiring a caregiver or a domestic helper.
According to Singlife’s long-term care survey, the average monthly cost of long-term care is S$2,324, which includes the treatment, therapy, medication, and even the fees for hiring a caregiver. One may experience severe financial hardship with the loss of income should a person become disabled and unable to continue working.
One study conducted by the Ministry of Health found that 50% of healthy Singaporeans could become seriously disabled at some point in their lives, and 30% of the population could be severely incapacitated for 10 years or longer. Strokes, diabetes, dementia, and car accidents are only a few of the causes.
If you have an excess of CPF MediSave and wish a higher monthly payout, why not take advantage of CareShield Life upgrades?
To figure out the best CareShield upgrade for you, you need to compare different plans.
How do CareShield Life supplements work?
To offset these ever-increasing expenses, getting supplemental insurance from private insurers may be necessary. CareShield Life supplements offer increased protection against moderate and severe disability, plus more long-term care payouts to lessen the financial burden on the expenses.
Not to mention, you can also deduct up to S$600 from your MediSave account using the CareShield Life supplement premiums. This means, you can boost your CareShield Life supplement monthly payouts up to S$5,000 per year, which primarily depends on your choice of plan and premium.
The current private insurers offering CareShield supplements include: Singlife with Aviva, Great Eastern Life, and NTUC Income.
Best CareShield Life supplement plans comparison: Great Eastern Life vs Singlife With Aviva vs NTUC Income
As previously stated, you can choose from the three private insurers. To help you decide, we’ve made a list of the top CareShield Life supplements available in the market so you can compare which of these plans offer the best value.
1Age Next Birthday (ANB) and Age Last Birthday (ALB)
2Subject to Deferment Period, and for as long as he continues to suffer from the disability.
3All payouts here are subject to the Deferment Period. Payouts are payable for as long as the life assured suffers from the applicable number of disabilities, up to the life assured’s lifetime.
4The Initial Benefit is a lump sum payment equivalent to 3 times of the Monthly Benefit. In the event the Life Assured fully recovers from the disability, the Initial Benefit may be paid again for subsequent episodes of inability to perform at least 1 ADL. However, it is not payable if such subsequent disabilities arise from or are related to the cause of disability(ies) for which there was a previous claim for Initial Benefit.5Subject to Deferment Period and payable for up to a maximum of 12 months (whether consecutive or not) per Policy Term.6Applicable if the Life Assured has a Child who is below 22 years old (age last birthday) as at the Claim Date; subject to Deferment Period and payable for up to a maximum of 48 months (whether consecutive or not) per Policy Term.
Great Eastern Life
When compared to other MediSave-approved CareShield supplement plans, Great Eastern’s GREAT CareShield stands out as the only option that offers compensation for the inability to perform even just a single ADL. Payments range from $300 to $5,000 per month, on top of your regular CareShield Life benefits, depending on your plan.
An individual’s quality of life can suffer from a mild disability, but the disability is not severe enough to qualify them for insurance benefits. It’s also possible that a person’s condition allows them to keep working, but at a reduced salary because of their limited job scope.
As a result, it can be exceedingly difficult to deal with the financial strain of a reduced salary and rising medical bills. When this happens, having peace of mind is where Great Eastern’s GREAT CareShield comes in.
Remember that no matter how reasonably priced MediShield Life premiums are, you may pay for it entirely out of your Medisave account. Thus it won’t even affect your cash flow.
Singlife with Aviva
With so many great features included, the Singlife with Aviva CareShield Standard plan stands out as one of the top contenders among other Careshield Life supplement insurance providers.
Some of the benefits offered include:
- Dependent care benefit
- Caregiver relief benefit
- Death benefit
In addition, you can decide between a fixed payout or a growing payout of 2% or 3% p.a. until the end of the premium term or upon claiming, whichever comes first.
To qualify for the monthly payment of the rehabilitation benefit, you must be unable to complete two ADLs (moderate disability). Payments from your CareShield Life policy can be supplemented by an extra S$200 to S$5,000, depending on your policy.
NTUC Income Care Secure
The Care Secure plan from NTUC Income provides substantial protection, which includes the following:
- Support benefit (initial payout) of up to 600% of the disability benefit
- Dependent benefit of 25% of the disability benefit every month for up to 36 months
- Death benefit of 300% of the disability benefit
In addition, NTUC policyholders get access to exclusive discounts and perks, including luxury staycation deals and shopping vouchers.
But the downside is that the CareShield Life’s payout is already included in its monthly benefit. For instance, Great CareShield Advantage and Singlife CareShield Standard both have optional monthly benefits on top of their base payout, so you end up with more money no matter which plan you choose.
What kind of CareShield Life supplement should you get?
There is certainly no written formula for this. One must assess their own medical requirements and top priorities when choosing the best supplement.
Plans with dependent benefits are a good choice if you want to take care of the financial security of your family in the event of your death or disability. Keep in mind that the payment for which you are qualified also depends on the premium you are paying.
For instance, Singlife’s CareShield Standard offers an exceptional all-around coverage at the best possible price. However, you have to keep in mind that if you select the escalating payment plan, your premiums would rise by 2% or 3% a year.
On the other hand, NTUC Income’s lump sum payout is also fairly generous: you will be paid three times your first month’s benefit if you can’t do at least two ADLs, and six times your first month’s benefit if you can’t do at least three ADLs. However, the monthly compensation you get from CareShield will only include the basic if you can’t complete at least three ADLs.
Finally, as was previously indicated, only Great Eastern’s GREAT CareShield plan provides a monthly compensation for the inability to complete at least one ADL. If you are unable to do two ADLs, you will be eligible for the entire monthly benefit. The only downside is the non inclusive of death benefit.
In conclusion, the benefits included in CareShield Life’s basic plan might not be enough.
Why not take advantage of CareShield Life improvements if you have extra CPF MediSave and desire a higher monthly payout?