Long-term care in Singapore is not primarily an elderly care problem. Great Eastern's latest long-term care study finds that 62% of GREAT CareShield claimants are under 50, with close to three in ten long-term disability claims linked directly to injuries rather than age-related conditions - and 63% of those injury-related claims coming from policyholders aged 30 to 49. That finding reframes the protection gap from a retirement planning issue to a working-age risk, and gives the study's other findings their proper significance.
The most immediate gap is financial. Respondents estimated the monthly cost of long-term care at approximately S$2,400. Care provider Care@Homes projected the actual cost closer to S$3,500 a month - a 32% underestimate. Both figures sit well above the S$689 monthly basic payout provided under CareShield Life, the national scheme. The Ministry of Health has found that only one in three Singaporeans has taken up a supplementary plan to enhance their baseline CareShield Life or ElderShield coverage - a low take-up rate that the cost underestimation helps explain. If people do not know what home care costs, they are unlikely to insure adequately for it.
The study found that 68% of respondents preferred professional care support delivered at home rather than in an institutional setting. That preference is closely tied to concerns about dignity and independence: among respondents asked about being unable to perform one day-to-day activity independently, 79% agreed or strongly agreed that they would lose independence and dignity, 80% said they would feel like a burden to loved ones, and 66% said they would feel socially isolated.
"We now recognise that long-term care is no longer solely about fulfilling medical needs. There is a desire by Singaporeans to maintain their dignity when under long-term medical care," said Kwek-Perroy Li Choo, managing director at Great Eastern.
Home-based care, however, transfers the practical and financial burden to family members. Nearly half of caregivers surveyed had been providing care for at least three years, and 28% for five years or more. Among caregivers aged 30 to 64, 66% remained in full-time employment while caregiving - managing care responsibilities alongside work and household income demands simultaneously. The emotional and financial toll is documented: 68% of caregivers reported emotional stress or burnout, while 61% said they faced severe financial strain from treatment or care costs.
General awareness of long-term disability risk has risen - from 29% in 2023 to 42% in 2025 - but has not translated into protective action. Some 59% of Singaporeans still do not seriously consider their own likelihood of becoming disabled. That gap between awareness and action is a familiar pattern in protection markets, but the working-age claims data gives it particular urgency: the risk is not a distant retirement concern for most of the people currently underinsured against it.
When asked what services insurers should provide in the event of disability, respondents identified day-to-day care, cited by 61%; medical coordination, cited by 55%; and rehabilitation support, cited by 52%. Caregivers separately identified transportation to medical appointments, cited by 45%; respite care, cited by 37%; and standby help, cited by 33% - a practical support agenda that goes beyond financial payouts.
