According to the Singapore Ministry of Health, the country’s citizens are living longer. This increases the need for long-term care as the risk of disability and serious illness is higher in old age.
MOH estimates half of Singaporeans over the age of 65 could become severely disabled in their lifetime. And out of those, three in 10 could live with severe disability for 10 years or more.
These disabilities could come from accidents or illnesses, leading to the need for long-term care over a prolonged period.
What is long-term care?
Long-term care is the personal and medical care needed when an individual suffers from a disability. There are different types of long-term care.
- Home-based care
- Centre-based care
- Nursing homes
Since 1 Oct 2020, CPF launched a mandatory national insurance scheme called CareShield Life.
Read more: All You Need to Know About CareShield Life
Those who were born between 1980 and 1990 (aged 31 to 41 in 2021) were automatically covered on 1 Oct 2020 or when they turned 30, whichever is later, regardless of pre-existing medical conditions and disability.
What are the benefits of CareShield Life?
CareShield Life benefits are designed to provide you with lifetime coverage for your basic long-term care needs, should you suffer severe disability. These benefits are:
- Lifetime worldwide coverage
- Lifetime monthly cash payouts as long as you are severely disabled
- Monthly cash payouts will start at $600 in 2020 and increase over time
The claim will be paid out as long as an individual is assessed (by a MOH-accredited severe disability assessor) to be unable to perform at least three of the six Activities of Daily Living (ADLs).
The 6 Activities of Daily Living
Source: MOH website
Is the payout from CareShield Life sufficient to meet your needs?
According to Aviva’s Long-term Care Study done in 2018, you may need an average of S$2,324 per month for the following:
Source: Aviva website
According to Today, a United Nations (UN) report expects Singapore’s population size to reach 6.34 million in 2030.
It found that the life expectancy of Singaporeans to continue to go up. The life expectancies for men and women born in Singapore between 2010 and 2015 are 80.1 and 84.5, respectively. These would increase to 85.6 and 89.3 years respectively for those born here between 2045 and 2050.
With increasing costs in our living expenses including medical care, you must plan early to take care of these costs so that it will not be a financial burden to you and your family.
What can you do to supplement CareShield Life?
There are CareShield supplementary plans offered by private insurance companies to provide additional monthly cash payouts.
You can utilize up to $600 per year per life from your CPF Medisave to pay for the CareShield Life Supplement Plan. If there is an excess of premiums beyond $600, the remaining will be payable in cash.
Insurance companies providing such plans in Singapore are Income, Aviva, and Great Eastern.
Let’s take a look at what they provide.
Premium comparisons based on at least 2 ADLs
Based on Age 30
Based on Age 35
- Aviva selected premium payment term is till Age 99
- Income selected premium payment term is till Age 84
- Great Eastern selected premium payment term is till Age 80
- Aviva offers a 20% perpetual discount and rates quoted are after discount
- Great Eastern offers a 20% discount for the first year premium and rates quoted are before discount
- Premiums above are inclusive of the prevailing GST
Read more: Best CareShield Life Supplements
Conclusion
You’re never too young to have to plan for this, even if you’re covered by other insurance policies.
People who plan early will enjoy additional peace of mind and—perhaps more importantly—a lower entry premium into the CareShield Life Supplement Plan. Don’t leave the financial risk in the hands of your loved ones.
