Key Takeaways
CareShield Life is Singapore's national long-term care insurance, paying monthly cash for life if you can't perform at least 3 of 6 daily activities.
A CareShield Life claim made in 2026 pays $689 a month, and that amount stays fixed for as long as your claim lasts.
Government support such as the Home Caregiving Grant and means-tested care subsidies can lower your costs further, depending on your household income.
Private CareShield Life supplements can raise your monthly payout or start paying earlier, but insurers can decline you or charge more based on your health.
Long-term care insurance complements rather than replaces your other cover, so review it alongside your life insurance in Singapore.
Long-term care is the ongoing help you need when illness, injury or old age leaves you unable to manage basic daily tasks, such as washing, dressing or moving around, for months or years. In Singapore, the Ministry of Health (MOH) groups the ways to pay for it together: insurance schemes, MediSave withdrawals, and subsidies and grants for care services.
Long term care insurance is one part of that mix. The term describes cover, such as Singapore's national scheme and private top-up plans, that pays you monthly cash if you become severely disabled. This guide explains how each type of support works, what it costs and how to decide whether you need more cover.
How Long-Term Care Insurance Works
Long-term care means ongoing help with Activities of Daily Living (ADLs), the six basic tasks used to measure disability in Singapore: washing, dressing, feeding, toileting, walking or moving around, and transferring (for example, getting from a bed to a chair).
Long-term care insurance pays out when an approved assessor confirms you can't perform a set number of ADLs. Instead of reimbursing bills, it pays monthly cash, so you decide how to spend it. Families commonly use payouts for:
A caregiver or domestic helper trained for care tasks
Day-care, rehabilitation or home care services
Nursing home fees, after subsidies
Transport to appointments and home modifications
It isn't designed to pay for hospital stays, surgery or outpatient visits. Those fall under hospitalisation insurance such as MediShield Life.
How CareShield Life Works
CareShield Life is Singapore's national long-term care insurance scheme, run by MOH and CPF Board. It pays a monthly cash payout for life if you become severely disabled, meaning you can't perform at least 3 of the 6 ADLs.
Who is covered
Singapore Citizens and Permanent Residents (PRs) born in 1980 or later are automatically enrolled at age 30, regardless of any pre-existing conditions or disabilities. Those born from 1970 to 1979 who were on ElderShield 400, the older national scheme, and weren't severely disabled joined automatically on 1 December 2021.
If you were born in 1979 or earlier and aren't covered, you can still opt in. From 1 January 2026, though, you can only join if you have no pre-existing disabilities.
What it pays
A claim approved in 2026 pays $689 a month, whatever your age up to 67. For example, someone born in 1980 who makes a successful claim this year, at age 46, gets $689 a month for life.
Until you claim, this amount grows every year (by 4% a year from 2026 to 2030, up from 2% before) until you turn 67. Once you claim, your payout is fixed at that year's amount for as long as you remain severely disabled.
This means the age at which you claim matters. According to CPF Board, someone who joins at 30 in 2026 and only claims at 67 or later would get $2,941 a month.
What it costs
Your premium depends on your age when you join and your gender. You pay it every year from age 30 until 67, or for 10 years after joining if that's later, and payments stop once you make a successful claim. You can pay fully with MediSave, including a family member's MediSave.
Premiums had a one-step rise in 2026 to fund the higher payouts. Government transitional support keeps yearly increases from 2026 to 2030 to about $38 on average, and no more than $75. Lower- and middle-income households also get means-tested premium subsidies, and anyone who still can't afford premiums can apply for Additional Premium Support.
To see your own premium, subsidies and projected payout, log in to the CareShield Life website with Singpass.
Other Government Support for Long-Term Care
The Agency for Integrated Care (AIC), under MOH, links families to care services and runs most long-term care financing schemes. Unlike insurance, most of these schemes are means-tested, based on household income and property. Here are the main schemes:
Scheme | What it gives | Who it's for |
Home Caregiving Grant | Up to $600 a month | Families caring at home for someone with moderate to severe disability |
ElderFund | Up to $250 a month | Lower-income Singaporeans with severe disability |
MediSave Care | Monthly cash withdrawals from your own or your spouse's MediSave | Severely disabled Singapore residents aged 30 and above |
Long-term care subsidies | Lower fees for home care, day care and nursing homes | Households within income thresholds |
Amounts are accurate as of 16 October 2026. Check AIC for the latest eligibility criteria before you apply.
If costs are still hard to manage after these schemes, ComCare offers further help for low-income households.
CareShield Life Supplements and Other Private Cover
Because CareShield Life is designed as basic cover, you can top it up with a CareShield Life supplement, a private plan that adds to your national payout. Three insurers offer them: Great Eastern, Income Insurance and Singlife. You need to be covered by CareShield Life or ElderShield to buy one.
Supplements can improve on the national scheme in a few ways:
Higher monthly payouts, sometimes with the option for the benefit to grow each year
Earlier triggers, paying when you can't perform 1 or 2 ADLs instead of 3
Payouts for life or for a fixed period, depending on the plan you choose
Unlike CareShield Life, supplements are underwritten: insurers can decline you or charge more based on your age and health. Some life insurance plans also offer disability riders, usually alongside death or critical illness cover.
Here's how a supplement compares with the national scheme:
Feature | CareShield Life | CareShield Life supplement |
Provider | Government (MOH and CPF Board) | Great Eastern, Income Insurance or Singlife |
Payout trigger | Unable to perform 3 of 6 ADLs | As few as 1 or 2 ADLs, depending on the plan |
Monthly payout | $689 for 2026 claims | Benefit amount you choose |
Health checks | None for those born in 1980 or later | Health questions; you can be declined |
Paying premiums | Fully by MediSave | MediSave up to $600 a year per person insured, the rest in cash |
CareShield Life payout is for claims approved in 2026. Supplement features vary by plan, so check each insurer's policy wording.
Applying while you're young and healthy usually gives you more choice, since insurers assess your health before accepting you.
Long-Term Care Insurance vs Other Insurance Types
Long-term care insurance doesn't replace your other cover, because each type pays for a different risk:
Type of insurance | What it pays | When it pays |
Long-term care insurance | Monthly cash | When you can't perform a set number of ADLs, for as long as you qualify |
Hospitalisation insurance (e.g. MediShield Life, Integrated Shield Plans) | Reimburses eligible medical bills | When you're hospitalised or need certain outpatient treatments |
Critical illness insurance | A lump sum | When you're diagnosed with a covered serious illness |
Life insurance | A lump sum to your family | When you die or, if covered, are diagnosed with a terminal illness |
A critical illness or life insurance payout is a one-off sum, and hospital cover stops when treatment ends. If a disability lasts for years, monthly long-term care payouts are what keep paying for ongoing help. Read more on how life insurance and health insurance differ.
How Much Long-Term Care Coverage Do You Need?
There's no single right amount, because care costs depend on where you're cared for, how long care lasts and which subsidies you qualify for. Here's a simple way to estimate it:
Picture likely care settings, from family care at home with part-time help to day-care or a nursing home.
List the support you already have, including CareShield Life, any supplements, grants you may qualify for, MediSave and savings.
Estimate the gap between what you'd want to spend each month and what that support covers.
Decide how much of the gap to insure, weighing premiums against retirement, education and other goals.
More cover means higher premiums, so some people insure part of the gap and plan to cover the rest from savings and family support. For a personalised figure, speak to a licensed financial adviser.
What to Check Before You Buy a Long-Term Care Plan
No plan is best for everyone, so compare plans on these features:
Monthly benefit: how much it pays and whether it grows over time to keep up with rising care costs.
Benefit period: whether payouts last for life or stop after a set number of years.
ADL trigger: how many ADLs you must be unable to perform, and how the policy defines "unable".
Waiting period: how long you must be disabled before payouts start, as you'll pay for care yourself until then.
How it works with CareShield Life: whether it pays on top of the national payout, or only tops up to the total benefit you chose.
Premium term: whether you pay until a set age or for life, and how premiums may change.
Also check the exclusions. CareShield Life covers those born in 1980 or later regardless of pre-existing conditions, but private plans commonly exclude pre-existing disabilities, self-inflicted injuries and some mental health conditions. Read the policy wording and product summary before you commit.
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