CareShield Life: All you Need To Know

When we’re in the prime of our lives, it can feel like we are invincible. We hear about our elderly parents or grandparents having health ailments that make the simplest activities difficult - like having hip or knee pains resulting in difficulty walking, or digestive issues, and so on, but we find it hard to relate. It does not even cross our minds that we would ever have such experiences. After all, everything feels fine now.

However, just because we feel fine now does not mean we are going to be fine forever. As we age, some parts our bodies inevitably deteriorates as well. Of course, we should be doing our best to maintain our fitness levels and be health-conscious to mitigate that, but we should not completely disregard the possibility of health ailments when we get older.

We can never predict what type of ailments or health issues may arise in our old age. This is why it’s important that we are well-informed about CareShield Life and how it benefits us.

CareShield Life is a long-term care insurance scheme that provides basic financial support should Singaporeans become severely disabled, especially during old age, and need personal and medical care for a prolonged duration (i.e. long-term care).

From Oct 2020, all Singaporeans and PR born between 1980 and 1990 will be automatically covered by CareShield Life.

If you are a Singapore Citizen or Permanent Resident born between 1970 and 1979, you will be automatically enrolled in CareShield Life from end-2021. You can opt out of CareShield Life by 31 Dec 2023 if you do not wish to join the scheme. You will automatically be placed back onto your ElderShield 400 scheme.

CareShield Life VS ElderShield

CareShield Life is basically an upgraded version of ElderShield with better coverage.

It’s part of the Government’s initiative to better address our ageing population.

Activities Of Daily Living

Activities of Daily Living (ADLs) is a concept of how independent a person is. These are the 6 activities of daily living, namely: washing, dressing, feeding, toileting, mobility/walking or moving around and transferring.

A person not able to perform at least 3 of 6 ADLs can qualify for CareShield Life or ElderShield payouts.

The Importance Of CareShield Life

So, how is CareShied Life important to you? Besides the points raised previously about how none of us are 100% invincible to the ailments that come with age, there are also some statistics that further highlight the importance of this long-term care insurance scheme: For Singaporeans aged 65 and above, 1 in 2 of them could become severely disabled in their lifetime and require long-term care as a result. Disabling events that are sudden and unpredictable such as spinal cord injuries and stroke, worsening of chronic diseases, and conditions like diabetes or illnesses that can develop as we age (e.g. dementia) are all factors that can cause severe disability.

Given the unpredictable nature of disabling events that result in a need for long-term care, it can be a challenge figuring out how much money to save and set aside for it. Insurance schemes like CareShield Life gives us peace of mind over this issue as it ensures protection against long-term care with sky-high costs by pooling our risks together.

The Need For Enhancement

Based on this study conducted recently, an elderly above 65 years old would need at least $1,379 a month to meet the basic needs of living in Singapore. This result is only based on single elderly households.

For elderly couples, the amount is $2,351 monthly.

For someone aged between 55 to 64 years old, the amount is $1,721.

Whether you think these are considered high costs or not, these figures are calculated on the basis that the elderly are healthy and not severely disabled, which means that long-term care costs are not factored in.

Long-term care such as staying in a nursing home can go anywhere from $1,200 to about $4,500 per month. The exact amount will depend on the level of care required and type of bedroom. On top of that, you will also need to include variable costs like mobility aid purchases or rental, plus any other emergency needs.

With that, the monthly expense would be roughly $3,000 if an elderly is unfortunately met with a severe and long-term disability. Adding this figure on to the $1,379 every month to meet their basic needs, a severely disabled elderly would need about $1,200 to $5,000 monthly if you take into consideration the long-term care costs.

CareShield Life offers basic long term financial support of $600 monthly for life. Having covered the monthly expenses needed above, is $600 really a sufficient amount?

CareShield Life Supplements

For those who think they need more coverage, CareShield Life Supplement plans are policies offered by participating private insurers which provide additional benefits to the basic CareShield Life payouts.

Additional premiums for a CareShield Life Supplement plan can be paid either in cash, or using funds from your MediSave account or that of your family members (spouse, parents, children, siblings, or grandchildren). Every calendar year, you can only use a maximum of $600 from MediSave per person insured and the balance premiums would then need to be paid for in cash.

For those who want to sign up for CareShield Life Supplement can sign up over here to enjoy a 20% discount.

Other Alternatives

With the addition of CareShield Life to a plethora of insurance plans out there, it can be difficult to differentiate among the types of coverage available, as well as what you need. You might also be concerned with having duplicate insurance coverage.

Here’s a comparison among CareShield Life and other types of disability insurance to help you make sense of what benefits each type of coverage entails.

Your Needs And Wants

Insurance planning is more than just having CareShield Life and disability insurance.

There are many other areas that we should look into.

When it comes to securing adequate coverage, we need a plan that goes further and caters to unknowns, because life can be unpredictable and our needs and wants may change over time.

If you want to better prepare for your long-term needs and wants, are concerned about overpaying for insurance, or would like a better understanding of the insurance you need at different stages in your life, come and book an appointment with us here now and find out what you really need and want.