ElderShield vs CareShield Life: what changed for those born before 1980

CareShield Life gets most of the attention today, but it is not the only long-term care scheme running in Singapore. ElderShield, its predecessor, is closed to new applicants but still covers a large number of people born before 1980. Understanding what changed between the two schemes matters most for that group, since some of them can choose to move across and others cannot.

ElderShield in brief

ElderShield was Singapore's first long-term care insurance scheme, introduced in 2002 and reviewed in 2007. It automatically enrolled Singapore Citizens and Permanent Residents with a MediSave account at age 40, until auto-enrolment was discontinued in 2019. From 1 November 2021, the Government took over administration of ElderShield from the three private insurers that had run it — Singapore Life, Great Eastern Life and Income Insurance.

There are two versions still in force, and the version you hold depends on when you joined:

• ElderShield 300, the original 2002 version, pays $300 a month for up to 60 months on a successful claim.
• ElderShield 400, the 2007 revision, pays $400 a month for up to 72 months.

Both versions require premiums to be paid until the policy anniversary after you turn 65, at which point cover continues for life at no further cost, provided premiums were kept up. Premiums are fully payable from MediSave, including a family member's MediSave. The claim trigger is the same as CareShield Life's: being assessed by an MOH-accredited assessor as unable to perform at least three of six activities of daily living — washing, dressing, feeding, toileting, walking or moving around, and transferring between a bed and a chair.

If you were born on or before 30 September 1932, or already had a pre-existing disability when ElderShield launched in 2002, you would not have been eligible to join. The Interim Disability Assistance Programme for the Elderly exists as a separate form of support for that group.

What CareShield Life changed

CareShield Life, which began enrolling Singaporeans born in 1980 or later from 1 October 2020, differs from ElderShield in three material ways:

1. Payouts last for the entire duration of disability, not a fixed number of months. Where ElderShield stops paying after 60 or 72 months even if you remain disabled, CareShield Life continues paying for as long as you meet the claim criteria.
2. Payouts start lower but increase over time. CareShield Life payouts began at $600 a month in 2020 and rise progressively, rather than being fixed at $300 or $400 for the life of the policy.
3. Government subsidies are available, depending on your circumstances, which ElderShield does not offer.

Both schemes remain payable through MediSave, and both use the same three-of-six activities of daily living test to trigger a claim.

Can you switch from ElderShield to CareShield Life?

If you were born in 1979 or earlier, you generally were not auto-enrolled into CareShield Life, but you can apply to join if you are not already severely disabled. There is one group that moved automatically: Singapore Citizens and Permanent Residents born between 1970 and 1979 who held ElderShield 400 were auto-enrolled into CareShield Life from December 2021, unless they were already severely disabled at the time.

For everyone else who wants to switch voluntarily, a few practical points apply:

• Your ElderShield premiums paid to date are taken into account when your CareShield Life premium is computed, rather than starting the calculation from zero.
• A successful CareShield Life application replaces your ElderShield policy. You do not hold both; the new scheme takes over.
• Premiums and payouts under CareShield Life are the same across insurers, since it is a national scheme rather than a product sold competitively.

You can check your current coverage — ElderShield, CareShield Life, or neither — by logging into your CPF healthcare dashboard with Singpass.

Weighing whether to switch

For someone still on ElderShield 300 or 400, the case for switching to CareShield Life turns mainly on how much you value lifetime payouts over a fixed-duration one. A severe disability that lasts well beyond five or six years — which dementia and stroke-related disability often do — would exhaust an ElderShield payout while a CareShield Life payout continues. Against that, CareShield Life's payout starts lower than ElderShield 400's $400, though it is designed to grow.

If you already hold an ElderShield Supplement providing lifetime payouts on top of your base ElderShield policy, the case for switching the base scheme is weaker, since the supplement may already close much of the gap. This is exactly the kind of comparison a CareShield Life or ElderShield Supplement is designed to sit alongside, whichever base scheme you are on.

Talk to an advisor

Whether switching from ElderShield to CareShield Life makes sense depends on your age, your existing supplement coverage if any, and your family's history of conditions that call for extended care. A licensed advisor can review your current CPF healthcare dashboard details and work through the comparison with you. Use the portal's advisor matching to find one who specialises in long-term care planning.

Sources

• CPF Board — ElderShield
• CPF Board — CareShield Life and ElderShield info page
• CPF Board — CareShield Life