Aviva, Great Eastern Life and NTUC Income have all announced their Supplement Plan for ElderShield to the public.
Just to recap, Supplement Plan is the extra coverage that Singaporean above 40 years old can buy on top of the Basic ElderShield offered by the 3 insurers. The benefits and the premium for Basic ElderShield are the same for three insurers since it is being determined by Ministry of Health.
MyCare,the Supplement Plan offered by Aviva, offers $600-$2,000(include the basic ElderShield payout) monthly payout for either 12-year period or for lifetime. The choice is yours, and of course with difference in premium too.
The extra benefits included are:
a) Lump Sum Benefit of additional 3 times the first monthly benefit in the first year;
b) 50% of the monthly benefit if you were to recover from one of the 3 Activities of Daily Living;
c)Additional $200 per month for 36 months if you have a child aged 21 years and below; and
d) Death benefit of additional 3 times your last drawn monthly benefit.
Benefits b and c are not offered by Great Eastern and NTUC Income.
For Great Eastern, the Supplement Plans are termed ElderShield ValuePlus 300 & 400, ElderShield Comprehensive. The ElderShield ValuePlus 300 & 400, pays a monthly benefit of $300 and $400 respectively, but only up till 10 years. It also has the benefits a and d offered by Aviva. If you wish to increase the monthly payout up to $3,000, you will need to purchase the ElderShield Comprehensive. However, do note that it still pays for 10 years and your payout from 7th year will decrease. For example, if you are on the new ElderShield plan of $400 per month for 6 years,and buy a Comprehensive Plan of $400 monthly benefit, you will then get $800 per month for the first 6 years, but $400 per month from 7th year to 10th year.
NTUC Income offers the ElderShield Care that allows you to increase the monthly payout to $3,000 per month for 6 years. If you want payout to continue after the 6th year for lifetime, you can buy the ElderShield Lifetime Care 300 or ElderShield Lifetime Care 400, if you are on the old $300 monthly payout or the $400 montly payout respectively.The ElderShield Lifetime Care 400 also gives a lump sum of 3 times the monthly payout for the first 3 years of claim. However, NTUC Income does not have the benefits of b and c offered by Aviva.
One important point to note on the premium for Great Eastern is that the yearly premium increases with your attained age each year, and the payment is till 100 years old. NTUC Income premium does not increase with your age, and you pay till 65 years old only. The premium rate by Aviva is not available at its website.
Therefore, it seems that Aviva offers a better Supplement Plan that will continue to pay 50% of the payout even if you recover from one of the Activities of Daily Living. Moreover, if you have young children, then the additional $200 per month payout for 36 months will be very helpful to the family.
Let's now see if Great Eastern and NTUC Income will enhance their Supplement Plan and make it more competitive since they are the first 2 to release their Supplement Plans.
