GREAT CareShield - Comprehensive and Affordable Disability Coverage that Complements your MediShield Protection
GREAT CareShield - Comprehensive and Affordable Disability Coverage that Complements your MediShield Protection
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Pros
- Significantly lower threshold to receive beneits than the MediShield CareShield plan
- Waiver of premium if unable to perform 1 ADL
- Able to use MediSave to offset premiums
Cons
- No underwriting for pre-existing conditions
Great CareShield is a supplementary insurance plan to your basic and compulsory MediShield CareShield scheme. Both provide protection against income loss in the event of a disability due to an accident or medical condition. Under this plan, you will receive monthly payouts to help maintain your daily spending needs while you are disabled, giving you greater peace of mind about your finances to focus on your recovery.
Under both insurance plans, being disabled is defined as not being able to perform the following Activities of Daily Living (ADLs) – washing, toileting, dressing, feeding, walking or moving around and transferring.
The value of the GREAT CareShield plan is that under the MedisShield coverage, you are only able to get a payout of S$600 a month if you are unable to perform a minimum of three ADLs. Meanwhile, GREAT CareShield will provide both a lump-sum benefit of up to S$15,000 as well as a monthly payout of up to S$5,000 as long as you are unable to perform just one ADL. This makes the GREAT CareShield plan a good complement to the MediShield coverage as there is a much lower threshold to receive benefits. Your GREAT Careshield benefits are on top of any MediShield benefits you are eligible to receive so you will be able to get maximum coverage during your time of need.
Better yet, you can pay for your premiums for the GREAT CareShield plan using your Medisave, up to S$600 a calendar year per person insured. This can greatly help to reduce any out-of-pocket cost that you might have to incur to obtain this extra coverage.
Table of Contents
| GREAT CareShield Insurance |
|---|
| Complements compulsory MediShield CareShield coverage |
| Receive a lump-sum initial benefit of up to S$15,000 in the event that you are unable to perform one ADL |
| Receive monthly payouts, and waived premium payments, as long as you remain disabled |
| Receive an additional caregiver benefit for up to 12 months if you are deemed unable to to perform at least 2 ADLs |
| Receive an additional dependent care benefit for up to 48 months if you are deemed unable to perform at least 2 ADLs |
| Able to pay up up to S$600 of your annual premiums with MediSave for minimal out of pocket cost |
GREAT CareShield Insurance
GREAT CareShield is a disability insurance plan. It provides a lump-sum benefit when you are deemed unable to perform at least one of the six Activities of Daily Living (ADLs) as well as a monthly payout indefinitely as long as you are not able to perform said ADL. All benefits under the GREAT CareShield are additional and do not come into conflict with the payouts you will receive under the MediShield CareShield Coverage.
When selecting what level of coverage is the most appropriate for you, you can choose how much you would like your monthly benefit to be. It can range from S$300 to $5,000 a month, in increments of S$100. The premiums you pay for your plan will be dependent on the monthly benefit amount you have selected.
How the plan works: in the instance you are deemed unable to perform an ADL, you will receive an initial lump-sum benefit of three times your monthly benefit, up to S$15,000. When this happens, all your future premiums are waived as long as you are unable to perform said ADL.
From hereon, you will receive 50% of your predetermined monthly benefit if you are unable to perform one ADL and 100% of your predetermined monthly benefit if you are unable to perform two or more ADLs. On top of that, in the instance that you are unable to perform at least two ADLs, you will also be eligible to receive additional benefits in the form of a Caregiver benefit and a Dependent Care benefit that are 60% and 30% of your monthly benefits respectively to give support to additional care arrangements, such as a full-time caregiver, that you may need while you rest and recover.
One important detail of the GREAT CareShield plan is that the lump-sum benefit may be payable again if you meet with another accident or medical condition that gives rise to disability. Your coverage does not stop at the first instance of disability.
Utilise Your MediSave Funds
If cost concerns are keeping you on the fence about GREAT CareShield, you might be happy to know that you can pay your premiums using your MediSave, up to a limit of S$600 per calendar year per person insured. This can help to alleviate the costs by reducing your cash premium top-ups.
Policy Eligibility
In order to be eligible to purchase GREAT CareShield, you have to be between the ages of 30 and 64 and have no pre-existing disabilities.
Claims & Contact Information
You can submit your personal accident claim through your distribution representative or by post to Great Eastern's Claims Department (see table below). You can check the status of your claim online via e-Connect. Follow the instructions provided by Great Eastern and submit all the required documentation to avoid delaying your claims payout.
| Claims Information | |
|---|---|
| Customer Service Hotline | 1800 248 2888 |
| Product Enquiry Hotline | +65 6248 2211 |
| Mailing Address | The Great Eastern Life Assurance Company Limited, 1 Pickering Street, Great Eastern Centre #13-01, Singapore 048659 |
| Claims Submission | Documentation and Instructions |
Cost & Features
The GREAT Careshield plan can be a great addition to cover up any gaps in health or MediShield insurance coverage. Below, we have summarised the costs and features of the GREAT CareShield plan. If you would like to consider other forms of disability coverage, check out our guide to the Best CareShield Life Supplement Plans in Singapore.
| Coverage and Premiums | |
|---|---|
| Annual Premium for Plan With A Monthly Benefit of S$1,500 (35 year old Male) | S$861.84 incl of GST |
| Annual Premium for Plan With A Monthly Benefit of S$1,500 (35 year old Female) | S$1,154.90 incl of GST |
| Policy Term | Lifetime |
| Selectable Monthly Benefit | Minimum: S$300, Maximum: S$5,000 (in multiples of S$100) |
| Initial Benefit | One lump sum of 3x the Monthly Benefit payable upon inability to perform only 1 ADL |
| Monthly Benefit | 50% of Monthly Benefit payable upon inability to perform only 1 ADL |
| 100% of Monthly Benefit payable upon inability to perform at least 2 ADLs | |
| Caregiver Benefit | 60% of Monthly Benefit payable upon inability to perform at least 2 ADLs for up to 12 months |
| Dependent Care Benefit | 30% of Monthly Benefit payable upon inability to perform at least 2 ADLs for up to 48 months |
| Waiver of Premium | Premiums are waived upon inability to perform at least 1 ADL |
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Enya is a budding Research Analyst at ValueChampion. She has a BA in Economics from the University of Melbourne and has previously worked in the banking sector. Enya combines her experience and passion for personal finance to bring digestible and enriching financial content to readers.