careshield life
Health care and medical concept - close up of female patient and doctor hands meeting in hospital office and making appointment for medical exam.

Careshield Life: How Will It Affect You?

CareShield Life is set to replace the current ElderShield Life. CareShield Life serves to protect you from the financial burden in the event that you are severely disabled. Those who are born in 1980 or later are automatically registered under CareShield Life. Singaporeans who are born earlier and are not disabled, have the choice to opt into the policy. With the new implementation of CareShield Life in 2020, more Singaporeans are able to receive better protection against the rising cost of long-term care.

Long-term care services are provided to patients who are discharged from the hospital and need further care and treatment in a community setting (i.e. at home). Long-term care is also provided to patients who need assistance in their activities of daily living.

Definition of “Severely Disabled”

If you are unable to perform 3 out of 6 activities of daily living (ADL), you are certified to be “severely disabled”.

What are ADLs? 

5 Benefits of CareShield Life

Financial constraint is one of the major barriers for patients seeking quality long-term care. With the new implementation of CareShield Life, more Singaporeans will have access and the means to receive long-term care in the future.

Here is a quick summary of what to expect from the upcoming CareShield Life Scheme!

  1. Lifetime Payout 

With the new implementation of CareShield Life, the monthly payout will be $600. Your monthly payout will be for life.

The current ElderShield payout is limited to 72 months.

    2. An increase in payouts over time

The starting monthly cash payout will be $600 in 2020. You can use your cash payout for anything – for example paying for your healthcare needs, household bills or daily expenses.

The current ElderShield monthly payout is only $300/$400.

    3. Affordability

The government will be providing subsidies to make the premiums more affordable. This is to ensure that everyone receives coverage. Currently, you only need to pay your premiums until the age of 67.

Monthly Per Capita Household Income Subsidy Rate
S$1,100 and below 30%
S$1,101 – $1,800 25%
S$1,801 – S$2,600 20%

    4. Medisave

You can pay your CareShield Life premiums through Medisave. This is to ensure that everyone can afford to pay for CareShield Life and receive better protection against the rising cost of our healthcare needs.

    5. Pre-existing conditions covered

Under the new CareShield Life, you will be covered if you have pre-existing conditions or disabilities if you are born 1980 and later.

For ElderShield, pre-existing disabilities are not covered.

Why the need for CareShield Life?

Sustainability

For a policy to be universally beneficial, it needs to be sustainable. With premiums being paid earlier at the age of 30, both beneficiaries and policyholders are able to benefit from the assurance that the policy is sustainable in a long run.

Changing Needs

It is time for Singapore to cater more resources to long-term care. Singapore’s population is rapidly ageing and as our life expectancy increases, our healthcare needs increase as well. CareShield Life serves to protect us in our silver years and give us the assurance that we need to receive long-term care in the event that we are severely disabled.

You can check out our article about how long-term care, especially home care is necessary for our current needs in healthcare.  

Quick Summary of CareShield Life

Here is a simple illustration of how CareShield Life’s payouts can help increase the number of years of extra coverage for long-term care services.

Type of long-term care

Duration   Cost Per Month Total Budget

Nursing home

 5 years  $3,000 $180,000 Over 5 years

With the above budget, the payouts from CareShield Life will help a person tide through an additional full year of nursing home care.

Even better, if a person uses home care (a combination of non-medical and non-medical services), the same budget of $180,000 can stretch to a total of 12 years, by having the costs offset by CareShield Life payouts.

Type of long-term care Duration of Care without CareShield Life Duration of Care with CareShield Life Savings with CareShield Life
Nursing Home 

 5 years 6 years 20%
Home Care* 

8 years 12 years 50%

*Foreign-domestic worker ($800)+ Home Care Nurse once a week ($800) + Home Doctors Visit once a month ($250) = $1850/month

About Jaga-Me

At Jaga-Me, we believe in making healthcare accessible and available to everyone. However, financial constraints are one of the many reasons patients are unable to receive quality care. With the new CareShield Life policy in place, more patients have the option to choose quality long-term care regardless if it is home care or institutional care. Learn more about our home care services here.

You can find out more about CareShield Life here.

Award winning Home Care trusted by health professionals – Jaga-Me

Zeen is a next generation WordPress theme. It’s powerful, beautifully designed and comes with everything you need to engage your visitors and increase conversions.

More Stories
Breast Cancer 101