Best CareShield Life supplement comparison: Should you upsize your CareShield Life with Aviva, Great Eastern or NTUC Income?

At the risk of sounding too privileged when I say this, I sometimes face this dilemma when ordering a meal at a fast-food restaurant.

My finger will hover over the touchscreen as I calculate in my mind whether this upsize is worth it by asking myself these questions:

Will the food be enough? Will I be full with the main meal? Will this affect my ability to retire early ?

But trivial #firstworldproblems aside, I’m here to discuss a more serious issue and answer some questions you might have about CareShield Life.

Is the basic coverage from CareShield Life enough?

Should you ‘upsize’ your CareShield Life coverage with supplements that can raise your payouts by up to five times?

Which of the supplements from Aviva, Great Eastern or NTUC Income is best for you?

As always, we got you!

Disclaimer: The information provided by Seedly serves as an educational piece and is not intended to be financial advice. ​Readers should always consider their own needs and seek advice from a trusted licensed financial adviser.

TL;DR: CareShield Life supplements comparison: Aviva vs Great Eastern vs NTUC Income

Before we take about the CareShield Life supplements, here’s a quick recap of the CareShield Life scheme, which launched on Oct 1, 2020:

What is CareShield Life?

CareShield Life is a mandatory long term care Government insurance policy that offers a lifetime cash payout when you become severely disabled.

Severe disability is defined by the Ministry of Health (MOH) as being unable to perform at least three out of the six Activities of Daily Living (ADLs) as assessed by a MOH-accredited severe disability assessor.

All in all, you can consider it to be the successor to ElderShield.

But, do note that, unfortunately, if you suffer from a major disability that robs you of the ability to perform one or two out of the six ADLs, you will not receive any payouts from CareShield Life.

CareShield Life Activities of Daily Living (ADLs) criteria

These ADLs include:

If you do not have to claim for this insurance policy, these payouts will increase over time.

These payouts start from $600 a month in 2020 and will increase by two per cent per annum (p.a.) for the first five years (until 2025) or when a successful claim is made, whichever is earlier.

After 2025, future payouts will vary depending on the regular adjustments.

Also, the premiums are fully payable via MediSave, with Government subsidies available if you need help paying for the premiums.

If you think that this coverage is not enough, you can consider CareShield Life supplements.

ALSO READ: Insurance claims in Singapore: How they work & what you need to submit

What Are CareShield Life supplements? Is it worth it to Get The CareShield Life supplement?

CareShield Life supplements are policies that supplement the coverage of the basic CareShield Life policy.

But, note that you will need to be an existing policyholder under CareShield Life to purchase a supplement policy.

In general, these supplement policies will make it easier for you to make claims as most of them reduce the ADL claim criteria from three out of six ADLs down to even one out of six ADLs.

Also, the monthly payouts from the supplement policies can go up to $5,000, and most are add-ons to the basic CareShield Life monthly payouts.

In other words, after receiving the $600 per month basic payout from the basic CareShield Life policy, you will receive an additional monthly payout from the supplement policy you have bought.

Premiums can be paid using cash or your own or your family members’ (i.e. spouse, parents, children, siblings or grandchildren) Medisave within the Additional Withdrawal Limit (AWL).

However, the amount you can use to pay the premiums for the supplement policy is capped at $600 per calendar year per person insured.

Also, note that the premiums and payouts are level throughout the policy term.

In addition, Aviva’s offering has an escalating payout option where the payout will increase over time. But, you will need to pay more for this perk.

In other words, the policies will cover you for life, regardless of your payment term. The premium will also remain the same as you age.

Currently, three private insurers are offering CareShield supplements.

Here is a comparison of their offerings:

CareShield Life supplements comparison: Aviva vs Great Eastern vs NTUC Income

Details	Aviva MyLongTermCare Plus	GE Great CareShield	NTUC Income Care Secure
Monthly Benefit Amount	$200 - $5,000 (in multiples of $100)	$300 - $5,000 (in multiples of $100)	$1,200 - $5,000 (in multiples of $100)
Monthly Benefit: Inability to perform three out of 6 ADLs payout	Pays out in addition to Careshield Life	Pays out in addition to Careshield Life	Monthly payout is INCLUSIVE of CareShield Life payout, reducing overall payout amount
Monthly Benefit Payout Criteria & Amount	100 per cent of monthly benefit with inability to do at least two ADLs	50 per cent of monthly benefit with inability to do at least one ADLs 100 per cent of monthly benefit with inability to do at least two ADLs	100 per cent of monthly benefit with inability to do at least two ADLs
Premium Waiver (Future premiums are waived)	Inability to do at least one ADL	Inability to do at least one ADL	Inability to do at least two ADLs
Initial Lump Sum Payout (One-off payout in the event of disability)	300 per cent of monthly benefit with inability to do at least two ADLs	300 per cent of first monthly benefit with inability to do at least one ADLs	300 per cent of first monthly benefit with inability to do at least two ADLs 600 per cent of first monthly benefit with inability to do at least three ADLs
Additional Caregiver Relief Benefit	60 per cent of monthly benefit for up to 12 months with inability to do at least two ADLs* This will reset when the policyholder has recovered	60 per cent of monthly benefit for up to 12 months with inability to do at least two ADLs	-
Additional Dependent Payout (On top of monthly benefit)	20 per cent of monthly benefit for up to 36 months if you have a dependent (below age 22 ALB)	30 per cent of monthly benefit for up to 48 months if you have a dependent (below age 22 ALB)	25 per cent of monthly benefit for up to 36 months if you have a dependent (below age 22 ALB)
Additional Death Benefit (On top of monthly benefit)	300 per cent of monthly benefit	-	300 per cent of monthly benefit
Escalating Payout Options	Choice of fixed payouts or escalating payouts at fixed rates of 2 per cent or 3 per cent p.a. until the end of premium term, or when a claim is made, whichever is earlier	No option
Policy Coverage	Lifetime monthly payouts if you remain severely disabled
Entry Age	30 - 64
Premium Period	(i) Up to age 98 OR (ii) Up to age 67 or 20 years from entry age, whichever is later	Up to age 67 OR Up to age 95	Up to age 67 OR Up to age 84
Discount	Lifetime 20 per cent premium discount if you sign up after October 2020	Lifetime 20 per cent premium discount (till Dec 31, 2021)	-

CareShield Life supplements: Aviva vs Great Eastern vs NTUC Income premium comparison

To help you get a general idea of what you will be paying for premiums, let’s look at these two tables below.

The first table is for those who want to maximise the $600 annual Medisave withdrawal limit to pay for their CareShield Life Supplement policy premiums with just their Medisave and zero cash top-up.

Max monthly payout you can get from the supplement plans by paying premiums with just your Medisave and zero cash top-up — i.e. ≤$600 a year.

In other words, this table shows you theyou can get from the supplement plans by paying premiums with just your and — i.e.

Male			Female
Age	Aviva MyLongTermCare Plus Up to age 98	GE GREAT CareShield Up to age 95	NTUC Income Care Secure* Up to age 84	Aviva MyLongTermCare Plus Up to age 98	GE GREAT CareShield Up to age 95	NTUC Income Care Secure* Up to age 84
Max Monthly Payout Using Medisave & No Cash	30	$1,500	$1,500	$1,300	$1,200	$1,100	$1,000
Max Monthly Payout Using Medisave & No Cash	35	$1,300	$1,300	$1,100	$1,000	$900	$900
Max Monthly Payout Using Medisave & No Cash	40	$1,000	$1,000	$900	$800	$800	$700

Source: Aviva | Great Eastern | NTUC Income

Alternatively, if you are looking to get a $1,500 monthly payout, you will have to pay this amount in premiums:

Male			Female
Age	Aviva MyLongTermCare Plus Up to age 98	GE GREAT CareShield Up to age 95	NTUC Income Care Secure* Up to age 84	Aviva MyLongTermCare Plus Up to age 98	GE GREAT CareShield Up to age 95	NTUC Income Care Secure* Up to age 84
Premium Cost (Can Use Medisave & Cash)	30	$573.95/year (No cash needed)	$573.95/year (No cash needed)	$671.30/year	$702.35/year	$765.59/year	$939.80/year
Premium Cost (Can Use Medisave & Cash)	35	$683.09/year	$683.09/year	$845.90/year	$839.74/year	$915.33/year	$1,179.70/year
Premium Cost (Can Use Medisave & Cash)	40	$829.46/year	$829.46/year	$1070.50/year	$1,116.92/year	$1,116.92/year	$1,498.70/year

Source: Aviva | Great Eastern | NTUC Income

A few things to take note of:

• *For NTUC’s Income Care Secure, the monthly benefit you see does not include the basic CareShield Life benefit of $600 a month
• The Premiums displayed for Great Eastern and Aviva take into account the lifetime 20 per cent discount.
• But, Great Eastern’s promotion is only valid from now till Dec 31, 2021, while the Aviva promotion currently has no end date
• Prices for premiums are inclusive of seven per cent GST

How to choose?

Based on the above table, and in my opinion, let’s look at the Pros and Cons of each offering to help you make your decision.

Aviva’s MyLongTermCare Plus review

Here are the Pros and Cons of the Aviva policy.

Pros

• Waiver of premiums when you are unable to perform one out of six ADLs
• Lifetime 20 per cent discount on premiums
• Option to choose escalating payout benefit
• But, you will have to pay more (escalating premiums) for the escalating payout benefit
• Additional death benefit
• You get more value for your premiums compared to Great Eastern and NTUC’s offerings when using Medisave only or cash and Medisave if you are female under the age of 40

Cons

• Additional benefits are just slightly behind Great Eastern’s offering

Another thing that sets the Aviva supplement policy apart is the Guaranteed Issuance Option (GIO) that allows you to increase the monthly benefits by up to 50 per cent, with no medical underwriting during the seven Aviva defined life stage events.

The events are:

• Purchases a property
• Marries, divorces or is widowed
• Becomes a parent by having a newborn child, or legally adopts a child below 19 age next birthday (ANB)
• Salary increases by 50 per cent or more from the application
• Completes a skills development course of at least six months
• Purchases a new Individual Life insurance policy or a Supplementary Benefit from Aviva Ltd with full underwriting at standard terms
• Spouse suffers a severe disability (unable to perform at least three of the six ADL) or dies

This option allows the policyholder to increase the policy’s monthly benefit by paying more premiums.

The total monthly benefit that can be increased under this option is limited to 50 per cent of the policy initial monthly benefit as agreed at policy inception or when this option is exercised, whichever is lower.

This option is extended to standard life only. Please refer to the Product Summary for more details.

Great Eastern GREAT CareShield review

Next up, we have the newly launched Great Eastern GREAT CareShield.

Here are the policy’s Pros and Cons.

Pros

• Lifetime 20 per cent discount on premiums if you sign up before Dec 31, 2021
• Generally, you get a bit more value for your premiums compared to NTUC’s offerings when using Medisave only or cash and Medisave
• Great Eastern’s offerings also cost about the same as Aviva, unless you are a female under 40
• This is the only plan currently available where you receive 50 per cent of the recurring monthly payout when you cannot carry out one ADL. You start receiving 100 per cent of the recurring monthly payout when you cannot carry out two or more ADLs.
• Future premiums are waived once the policyholder cannot carry out even one ADL. That means your Medisave can then be repurposed for other matters.
• Additional benefits are better than Aviva and NTUC’s offerings
  • E.g. Initial lump sum benefit pays out if you cannot carry out one ADL
  • The dependent benefit has the highest quantum and pays out longer

Cons

• No additional death benefit

ALSO READ: 6 reasons to review your insurance portfolio every start of the year

NTUC Income Care Secure review

Last but not least, we have NTUC’s Income Care Secure supplement policy and it Pros and Cons.

Pros

• Initial lump-sum payout of 300 per cent of the first monthly benefit with the inability to do at least two ADLs
• Initial lump-sum payout 600 per cent of the first monthly benefit with the inability to do at least three ADLs
• Lump-sum payout 300 per cent of the monthly benefit in the event of your death during the disability payout period (inability to do at least two ADLs)
• 25 per cent payout for up to 36 months if you have a dependent below 22 years old [age last birthday (ALB)] with the inability to do at least two ADLs

Cons

• The premium waiver is only given if you cannot perform at least two ADLs compared to an inability to perform one ADL for the other policies
• The monthly benefit paid out if you cannot perform at least three ADLs is inclusive of CareShield Life payout, which reduces the payout amount*
• Premiums are generally less cost-competitive compared to Aviva’s and Great Eastern’s offerings

*Here’s how this works. Let’s say you choose the lowest monthly benefit amount of $1,200. In the event that you cannot do two ADLs, NTUC will cover the whole $1,200 amount since you are still not eligible for CareShield Life at this point.

But, in the event that you cannot do three ADLs, NTUC will cover $600, and CareShield Life will cover $600.

How to buy

If you are interested to find out more and compare premium prices, you may contact a trusted licensed financial adviser or head on over to their websites for a quote.

With Great Eastern and NTUC Income, you can get a full quote on their website as you can adjust the age, policy term and monthly benefit amount.

But for Aviva, you can only adjust the age and policy term.

To adjust the monthly benefit amount and monthly payout structure, you must pass your information over to Aviva. They will then get a financial adviser representative to contact you.

What will happen to my ElderShield supplement after joining CareShield Life?

If you have an existing ElderShield Supplement policy, fret not.

According to the Ministry of Health:

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Do I really need a CareShield Life supplement policies?

Still not sure if you should get a CareShield Life Supplement policy?

Why not ask the friendly community on Seedly with your details anonymously and see what they think?

This article was first published in Seedly.