CareShield Life Supplement Guide: Income vs Singlife vs Great Eastern (2025)

Note: Aviva Singapore has merged with Singlife. NTUC Income has rebranded as Income Insurance. All information is accurate as of 14 May 2025.

Singapore’s population is ageing rapidly, and the trend shows no signs of slowing. While government initiatives such as CareShield Life provide essential support, it’s worth asking: Is the coverage sufficient?

CareShield Life is a national long-term disability insurance scheme designed for Singaporeans and Permanent Residents, offering monthly financial assistance if you become severely disabled—specifically, if you’re unable to perform at least 3 out of 6 Activities of Daily Living (ADLs). However, the current monthly payout of around $662 remains fixed from the time you start claiming, which might not be adequate to cover long-term care costs.

For someone who is severely disabled and likely unable to work, that amount per month honestly doesn’t stretch far—especially in a Singapore environment where the cost of living is growing rapidly.

Fortunately, there is a way you can increase that amount using a CareShield Life supplement from a private insurer. These supplements offer higher monthly payouts and extra benefits on top of the basic CareShield Life scheme. 

Currently, there are three insurers offering CareShield Life supplements—Income Insurance (formerly NTUC Income), Singlife (formerly Aviva), and Great Eastern Life.

This article will compare their supplement plans, latest premiums, benefits, and features as of 2025—so you can make a well-informed decision on which supplement to pursue. 

 

CareShield Life Supplement Guide: Income vs Singlife vs Great Eastern (2025)

1. Comparison of CareShield Life Supplements (2025)
2. Care Secure (Income Insurance)
3. Singlife CareShield Standard & Plus (Singlife)
4. GREAT CareShield Life Supplement (Great Eastern)
5. Verdict: Which CareShield Life Supplement is best for you?

Comparison of CareShield Life Supplements (2025)

CareShield Life supplements can significantly increase your monthly disability payouts. Each insurer’s plan has different payout triggers and features. Here’s a quick comparison:

CareShield Life Supplement	Annual Premium*	Monthly Benefit Payout
Income Care Secure (Income Insurance)	~$480	$1,200/month (includes CareShield Life payout)
Singlife CareShield Plus	~$550	$1,000/month (on top of CareShield Life payout)
Great Eastern GREAT CareShield	~$700	$1,000/month (on top of CareShield Life payout)

*Sample premiums are for a 35-year-old female, with premiums payable until age 67 for a basic plan option. Actual premiums vary by age, gender, benefit amount, and premium term.

In this table, “includes CareShield Life payout” means the private plan’s benefit integrates the government payout (offsetting it at the severe disability stage), whereas “on top of CareShield Life payout” means the benefit is paid in addition to the $600+ from CareShield Life. 

All plans allow choosing a monthly benefit up to $5,000 (limits apply) and premiums can be paid with MediSave (up to $600 per year).

Now, let’s look at each insurer’s supplement plan in detail, including their payout conditions, key benefits, and latest terms.

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Head over here to read more about how CareShield Life affects you.

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Care Secure (Income Insurance)

Income’s Care Secure offers lifetime coverage with a guaranteed monthly benefit of $1,200 up to $5,000 if you become disabled. 

It covers “moderate” disability (unable to perform at least 2 ADLs), which is an easier condition to meet than CareShield Life’s 3-ADL threshold. Notably, Care Secure’s payouts include your CareShield Life benefit. 

This means if you hit the severe disability level, the CareShield Life payout is deducted from the private benefit:

• If moderately disabled (2 ADLs): Care Secure pays 100% of your selected benefit. (At 2 ADLs you wouldn’t qualify for CareShield Life yet, so Income pays the full amount.)
• If severely disabled (3+ ADLs): Care Secure pays your selected benefit minus the CareShield Life payout. In other words, the total you receive is still your chosen benefit.
  
  For example, if you opt for a $1,200/month benefit and later cannot perform 3 ADLs, you’d get ~$600 from CareShield Life and the other ~$600 from Income, totaling $1,200.

Once you start receiving payouts from Care Secure, future premiums are waived as long as you’re disabled. 

Additional benefits

Support benefit (Rehabilitation benefit)

• A lump sum to help with care costs—300% of your benefit if you become moderately disabled, and 600% if severely disabled.
• This is paid after a 90-day deferment period and only once per lifetime (600% max)

Dependant benefit

• If you have an eligible dependant (child under 21) and become disabled, Income pays an extra 25% of your benefit per month for up to 36 months. 
• This helps support young dependants while you’re incapacitated.

Death benefit

• If you pass away while receiving disability payouts, your family gets a death benefit of 300% of your monthly benefit (e.g. 3 times $1,200 = $3,600). 
• This can help cover final expenses such as funeral arrangements and immediate life expenses.

Premium payments

Care Secure’s premiums are level and not age-increasing. You can choose to pay until age 67 or up to age 84, etc., depending on the plan option. 

For a 35-year-old female opting for a $1,200/month benefit (lifetime cover, pay until 67), the annual premium is roughly $480 (payable via MediSave). 

Income’s Care Secure tends to be one of the more affordable supplements for the amount of coverage, but remember that its benefit is offset by any CareShield Life payouts at the severe stage.

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Singlife CareShield Standard & Plus (Singlife)

Singlife offers two CareShield Life supplement plans: CareShield Standard and CareShield Plus. Both provide lifetime protection with monthly disability payouts ranging from $200 up to $5,000 on top of the national scheme.

The difference lies in the disability severity each plan covers:

Singlife CareShield Standard	Singlife CareShield Plus
Pays out when you are severely disabled (unable to perform ≥3 ADLs). This aligns with CareShield Life’s definition of severe disability, essentially matching the base scheme’s threshold. It is more affordable than Plus, but only kicks in at the point you’d also be claiming from CareShield Life.	Pays out once you are moderately disabled (unable to perform ≥2 ADLs). This is a lower threshold, allowing you to claim sooner (at the “moderate disability” stage). The monthly payouts from Plus are in addition to the CareShield Life payouts you’d eventually get. In other words, Singlife Plus does not offset the $600 from the government—it stacks.

Both plans allow you to choose level or increasing payouts (2% or 3% annual escalation option to combat inflation).

Regardless of plan, Singlife includes a valuable premium waiver—if you become even mildly disabled (unable to perform 1 ADL), you stop paying premiums but remain covered. This waiver kicks in after the 90-day deferment, ensuring you’re not burdened with premiums if you show early signs of disability.

Additional benefits

Singlife’s supplements also come with generous additional benefits (especially with the Plus plan, which is more “feature-packed”):

Lump sum benefit 

• A one-time payout of 3 times your monthly benefit upon severe disability (CareShield Plus actually releases this earlier—if you have Plus and become moderately disabled (2 ADLs), you get the 3 times lump sum right then). 
• This money can help with upfront costs like retrofitting your home or purchasing a wheelchair.

Dependent care benefit 

• An extra 20% of your benefit per month for up to 36 months if you have at least one child aged 22 or below when you claim. 
• For example, a $1,000 benefit would yield an additional $200/month to support your kids while you’re disabled.

Caregiver relief benefit

• An extra 60% of your benefit per month for up to 12 months to help you pay for a caregiver or to relieve your family caregiver.
• For a $1,000 benefit, that’s $600/month for up to a year to offset caregiver costs.

Rehabilitation benefit (Singlife CareShield Standard only) 

• If your condition improves from severe to moderate disability, you still get 50% of your last payout for a period to aid in rehabilitation.
• This applies to Standard plan holders who recover partial functionality.

Death benefit

• If you pass away while on claim, Singlife pays a death benefit of 3 times your last drawn monthly benefit (or rehab benefit) to your beneficiaries.

New add-on (Singlife Care Secure Benefit): 

• Singlife introduced an add-on benefit in 2023 to provide an extra monthly payout for up to 12 months at the onset of disability.
• Essentially, if you have Plus and become unable to perform 1 ADL (mild disability), or Standard and can’t perform 2 ADLs, this add-on will pay an additional temporary income for up to a year. 
• This bridges the gap before the main payouts kick in fully, giving you some support during the early stage of disability.

Premium payments

You can choose to pay premiums up to age 67 or even up to age 97 (lifetime pay), depending on your preference. Paying over a longer term lowers the annual premium. 

As a rough guide, a 35-year-old female opting for a $1,000/month benefit might pay around $540 to $580 per year for the Plus plan (lifetime cover). The Standard plan would cost less since it only pays at severe disability. 

All Singlife CareShield premiums can be paid via MediSave (up to $600/yr) with any excess in cash. Singlife often offers promotions (i.e., a 20% lifetime premium discount was available in 2023) so it’s worth checking for any ongoing discounts.

Overall, Singlife CareShield Plus is seen as a well-rounded plan. It provides high monthly payouts on top of the base scheme, includes a suite of benefits for caregivers and dependants, and even pauses your premium payments if you have any level of disability. 

The Standard plan is a budget option for those who just want extra payout when truly severely disabled, but no earlier.

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GREAT CareShield Life Supplement (Great Eastern)

Great Eastern’s GREAT CareShield stands out as the most comprehensive in terms of disability coverage stages. It is currently the only supplement that provides payouts even for mild disabilities (unable to perform 1 ADL). 

With GREAT CareShield, you can select a monthly benefit from $300 up to $5,000 (in $100 increments), which will be paid on top of your CareShield Life payouts. 

Additional benefits

Lifetime monthly payouts starting from 1 ADL: 

• If you cannot perform ≥1 ADL (mild disability), the plan pays 50% of your selected monthly benefit. 
• If you cannot perform ≥2 ADLs (moderate/severe disability), it pays 100% of your selected benefit.
• These payouts continue for life as long as you remain at least moderately disabled. 
• In practical terms: choose, say, a $1,000 benefit. At mild disability, you’d get $500/month; once you hit moderate disability, it increases to $1,000/month for life.
• This feature ensures even a mildly disabled policyholder gets some income, which is unique—typically mild disability wouldn’t qualify for any payout under other plans.
  

Initial lump sum benefit

• Once you make a valid claim (at least 1 ADL disability), Great Eastern pays a lump sum of 3 times your monthly benefit right away. 
• This is to help with initial adjustments (e.g., home modifications, mobility aids).
• Notably, if you recover and later become disabled again due to a new cause, this initial 3 times benefit can be paid out again for the new disability episode. 
• There’s no double payout for the same continuous disability, but multiple claims are possible for separate incidents—a unique perk for Great Eastern.
  

Caregiver benefit

• If you cannot perform ≥2 ADLs, Great Eastern will pay an extra 60% of your monthly benefit for up to 12 months to support caregiver expenses.
• For example, at a $1,000 benefit, that’s an additional $600/month for a year to help pay for a caregiver or nurse—effectively Great Eastern recognizes the higher costs in the first year of needing a caregiver.
  

Dependant benefit

• If you have at least one child (age <22) at the time of claim, and you cannot perform ≥2 ADLs, you get an extra 30% of your benefit for up to 48 months for your children. 
• For a $1,000 benefit, this means $300/month for up to 4 years to support your kids while you’re disabled.
• This is a longer duration and higher percentage than the dependant benefits of other insurers.
  

Death benefit

• Great Eastern’s plan does not pay a separate death benefit (it focuses the value on living benefits). 
• So unlike Income or Singlife, there’s no 300% payout on death—instead, more of the coverage is front-loaded to when you’re alive and need care.

Premium payments

As with the other supplements, any premiums due are waived once you’re disabled (unable to perform at least 1 ADL, which is the mild disability threshold for this plan).

GREAT CareShield premiums are level (fixed) and can be paid using MediSave (up to $600/yr). You can choose different premium payment terms; for example, pay until age 67 or pay until age 95—shorter payment terms mean higher annual premiums.

Great Eastern often has a 20% perpetual discount on premiums for CareShield supplements which helps make this robust plan more affordable. 

As a ballpark figure, a 35-year-old female might pay around $700+ per year (after discount) for a $1,000/month benefit for life coverage. While it’s pricier, keep in mind this plan covers even mild disabilities (which others do not), and provides additional support benefits at moderate disability that can surpass what other plans offer.

In summary, Great Eastern’s supplement is best for those who want the earliest protection. If you’re interested in securing comprehensive coverage that begins at the mild disability stage, you can explore and purchase Great Eastern’s GREAT CareShield plan here.

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Verdict: Which CareShield Life Supplement is best for you?

All three insurers’ CareShield Life supplements cater to different needs and priorities.

Here’s a quick rundown:

Income Care Secure	Affordable option for moderate disability coverage (2 ADLs) Lifetime payouts once unable to perform 2 ADLs Total payout at severe disability (3 ADLs) remains the same as selected benefit Best for budget-conscious individuals seeking moderate coverage. Not ideal for maximizing severe disability payouts.
Singlife CareShield Plus	Early payout trigger at moderate disability (2 ADLs). Benefits stack on top of CareShield Life payouts. Includes lump sum on claim, caregiver relief, and dependant benefits. Premium waiver even at mild disability (1 ADL). Mid-range premiums with frequent discounts. Balanced coverage and cost, ideal for most people. Standard plan available for those needing basic, severe disability coverage.
GREAT CareShield	Only plan that pays out from mild disability (1 ADL). Covers mild, moderate, and severe disabilities with escalating benefits. Provides caregiver and child support payouts. Typically the most expensive option among CareShield supplements. Ideal for those prioritising early-stage disability coverage. Suitable if you have a higher budget and want comprehensive protection.

As a final word, always review the latest product details with the insurer as benefits and premiums can evolve. 

With the right CareShield Life supplement in place, you’ll have greater peace of mind knowing that you and your loved ones are financially safeguarded should disability occur.

Still unsure which CareShield Life supplement aligns best with your needs? Talk to our friendly specialists for personalised guidance tailored to your situation.

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