SINGAPORE - The Ministry of Health (MOH) has addressed inaccuracies about ElderShield and Careshield Life circulating in a WhatsApp message that first appeared in 2018 and has resurfaced recently. 

The message was about Mr K, a severely disabled man whose ElderShield payouts ceased for six months.

In July 2018, his case was brought up in Parliament by Workers’ Party MP Sylvia Lim during a debate on CareShield Life, a compulsory Government-run disability insurance scheme that replaced ElderShield in 2020.

In a Facebook post on March 13, MOH said that they are aware of the message resurfacing again recently and noted several inaccuracies in it.

The ministry said that ElderShield and CareShield Life are long-term care insurance schemes targeted at severe disability. The schemes provide support to claimants through payouts.

A claimant can receive the payouts if he or she has been assessed to be unable to perform at least three out of the six activities of daily living.

“This is contrary to what is stated in the message that an individual would have to be ‘probably totally immobile or on the brink of death’ before he or she can receive ElderShield or CareShield Life payouts,” MOH added.

In 2018, Ms Lim had expressed concerns that CareShield Life would adopt the same eligibility criteria as ElderShield.

Mr K, who suffered from an advanced stage of kidney failure and had his leg amputated due to diabetes, was first assessed to be “severely disabled” in September 2014 and began receiving ElderShield payouts.

MOH said in a Facebook post in 2018 that the insurer ceased the payouts from October 2016 after a routine disability review in September 2016 by a doctor concluded that he was able to perform all six activities of daily living, “albeit requiring some assistance”.

Following an appeal from his family, a reassessment in November 2016 determined that Mr K was severely disabled, and thus eligible for ElderShield benefits again.

But the payouts only resumed in April 2017. He died the following month.

CareShield Life, a national long-term care insurance scheme, provide...