Transfer of ElderShield administration from private insurers to Government from November 1, 2021.

 

CareShield Life is the national long-term care insurance scheme launched on October 1, 2020, to provide basic financial protection against severe disability. It replaces the ElderShield scheme. To ensure that policyholders can benefit from improvements to the claims assessment process, and upgrade more smoothly to CareShield Life, the Government will take over the administration of the ElderShield scheme from private insurers from November 1, 2021.

CareShield Life is mandatory for all Singapore citizens or Permanent Residents born in 1980 or later. From November 6, 2021, the scheme is ready for eligible Singapore citizens and Permanent Residents born in 1979 or earlier to join and can sign up via the CareShield Life website at careshieldlife.gov.sg.

CareShield Life helps address care needs by pooling risks so that each individual has basic financial protection for one’s long-term care costs should one become severely disabled. With one in two Singaporeans aged 65 expected to become severely disabled in their lifetime, the Government accepted the recommendations of the ElderShield Review Committee (ESRC) in 2018 to introduce CareShield Life, an enhanced national long-term care insurance scheme.

Under CareShield Life, individuals who become severely disabled will have better basic financial protection, namely:

• Increase in payouts: CareShield Life payouts increase annually until age 67 or when a successful claim is made, whichever is earlier. The payout level is currently S$612 in 2021. This is enhanced from ElderShield’s fixed payouts of S$300 or S$400 per month.
• Longer duration of payouts: CareShield Life provides payouts for life, during the entire duration of severe disability. This is an improvement from ElderShield, which provides up to 60 or 72 months of payouts.
• Premium support: Premium support is available for CareShield Life to ensure no one loses coverage due to an inability to pay. This is enhanced from ElderShield, which does not have premium support measures.

Auto-enrolment was not extended to all other Singapore citizens or Permanent Residents born in 1979 or earlier who are not severely disabled because it consists of ElderShield 300 policyholders, uninsured individuals, and older individuals who will face higher annual premiums compared to the auto-enrolment group. They should therefore weigh the costs and benefits, and make a conscious decision to opt into CareShield Life. They can check their personalised premiums on the website before submitting their application to join CareShield Life. Existing ElderShield policyholders will continue to be covered under ElderShield if they choose not to upgrade from ElderShield to CareShield Life.

To encourage individuals to join CareShield Life, the Government will provide participation incentives of up to S$2,500 to all Singapore citizens born in 1979 or earlier who join CareShield Life by December 31, 2023. Additional participation incentives of S$1,500 will also be provided to Merdeka and Pioneer Generation citizens who join CareShield Life by  December 31, 2023.

Transfer of ElderShield administration

From November 1 2021, the Government will take over administration of the ElderShield scheme from private insurers. With this, policyholders can benefit from improvements to the claims assessment process, and upgrade more smoothly to CareShield Life from November 6, 2021 if they wish. There will be no change to their ElderShield coverage, claim eligibility criteria, or monthly payout quantum under Government administration.

From November 1, 2021, ElderShield policyholders may submit requests or enquiries on ElderShield via Write to Us (careshieldlife.gov.sg/writetous) or call the Healthcare Hotline at 1800-222-3399/+65 6222 3399 (overseas) from Monday to Friday, 8am to 5.30pm. To submit a claim for ElderShield, policyholders can do so via the Agency for Integrated Care (AIC) eServices for Financing Schemes portal at https://efinance.aic.sg. For further assistance, policyholders may contact AIC at 1800 650 6060/+65 6650 6060 (overseas) during their operating hours.

From now to October 31, 2021, ElderShield policyholders should continue to approach their respective insurer for ElderShield matters. For the contact information of insurers, please refer to https://careshieldlife.gov.sg/eldershield/insurer.