Increasing CareShield Life payouts, lowering qualifying criteria among charity’s recommendations

SINGAPORE - Increase monthly payouts from national disability insurance scheme CareShield Life and make it easier for people to qualify for them.

These proposals form part of a new position paper by charity Leap201, which wants to boost support for those facing critical illnesses like cancer and stroke. Such ailments can cause disabilities or limited functioning.

Leap201 is calling for these changes as CareShield Life undergoes its first review, five years after its launch. The long-term care insurance scheme provides basic financial support for those who develop severe disability and need personal and medical care for a prolonged duration. Results of the review are expected in the second half of 2025.

Leap201 laid out its three recommendations for CareShield Life on June 16 at a roundtable discussion co-hosted by accounting firm KPMG.

Its position paper, which has not yet been released in full, proposes increasing monthly CareShield Life payouts from the current $662. Currently, payouts increase yearly for those who sign up for the scheme.

As at 2024, there were 1,821 active claimants of CareShield Life – a 66 per cent increase from 2023. To date, a total of $26.7 million has been paid out to “severely disabled” individuals. This is defined as those who are unable to perform at least three out of six daily living activities.

These activities include not being able to shower, eat, dress and go to the toilet on one’s own.

The paper also recommended easing CareShield Life’s criteria to claim payouts. Currently, people can make claims if a government-accredited professional considers them to have met the criteria for being severely disabled.

Leap201 suggests that people should be able to make claims if they cannot perform two daily living activities, rather than three. This would help people get treated earlier and prevent further decline, it said.

It also suggested that such people should qualify and be automatically included in other schemes or community programmes that may be useful, if they meet eligibility criteria. This aims to reduce the burden of critical illness survivors in looking for more support.

The charity said it focused on critical illnesses as more working adults are facing such illnesses, with many Singaporeans reported to be underinsured, according to a study.

According to the latest data from the 2022 Singapore Cancer Registry Annual Report, the incidence of cancer increased most quickly in people aged between 30 to 39.

But a 2022 study by the Life Insurance Association (LIA) found that 74 per cent of economically active Singaporeans aged between 20 and 69 were underinsured when it came to critical illnesses. This went up to 91 per cent among platform workers.

The position paper is part of a larger initiative by Leap201 to improve long-term support for critical illness survivors, especially those from lower-income backgrounds. Called Care4Working Families (C4W), it calls for better solutions to bridge insurance gaps and better support for survivors returning to work.

Associate Professor Walter Theseira from the Singapore University of Social Sciences, who attended the event, said increasing CareShield Life payouts would mean a larger share of out-of-pocket costs are covered, but that people need to be made aware of what they are getting for the money.

Increasing payouts would lead to higher premiums for all on the scheme, which might be an issue if the public does not understand how the system is meant to support those with disabilities, he added.

“The structure of payouts as a long-term guaranteed amount is hard for many to understand when the private insurance sector competes by giving large lump sums – people don’t understand that long-term care can stretch many years,” he said.

“Right now, with a lack of understanding, the perception may be that CareShield Life’s premiums are expensive for a low payout.”

The June 16 discussion addressed other issues among those facing critical illnesses. It was held under Chatham House rules, which means participants cannot be named in media reports.

One participant asked if there is evidence that making it easier for people to qualify for payouts, as recommended in the position paper, will indeed delay the progression of the condition.

He suggested that more research be done to explore the critical factors that contribute to a person regressing in functional ability.

Another participant suggested that it would be useful to have a cause champion for those with critical illnesses, similar to how Yellow Ribbon Singapore advocates for former offenders and SGEnable advocates for those with disabilities.

Having such a champion can drive progress on issues like the workplace reintegration of survivors of critical illnesses, she said.