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Financial Support for Elderly Home Care: Grants and Subsidies Available in Singapore
Whether it be respite or long-term care, finance is one aspect we need to consider when selecting the best health and homecare options for our senior loved ones. At times like these, every little bit of help available counts.
We’ve compiled a comprehensive list of eldercare grants and subsidies, available for Citizens and Permanent Residents in Singapore, to help you navigate through the financial resources available for seniors to live and age well at home.
1. Foreign Domestic Worker (FDW) Grant
This is a $120 monthly cash payout to families to offset the cost of hiring an FDW to care for their senior loved ones who require permanent assistance, with 3 or more Activities of Daily Living (ADLs). Activities of Daily Living include bathing, dressing, eating, toileting, walking or moving around and transferring. Eligible households get concessions of up to two FDWs for two loved ones in one household.
By the end of 2019,$200 monthly Home Caregiving Grant will replace the existing FDW grant. It will be available to care recipients with permanent moderate disability, regardless of age, and granted based on a similar eligibility criteria as the current FDW grant. The new HCG grant will allow for more flexibility in hiring caregivers, as opposed to the limited hire of FDWs only.
You can get more details about the FDW Grant from the Agency for Integrated Care page here.
2. Foreign Domestic Worker (FDW) Levy Concession for Persons with Disabilities
This enables families who employ full-time Foreign Domestic Workers to look after a frail or senior loved one with disabilities to pay a lower monthly concessionary levy of $60, instead of $265. Eligible households get concessions of up to two FDWs for two loved ones in one household.
Get more details about the FDW Levy Concession from the Agency for Integrated Care page here.
3. Eldercarer FDW Scheme
This scheme allows you to hire a trained helper to receive better care for your elderly loved one at home. Your FDW will receive comprehensive training in eldercare and learn how to monitor vital signs, prevent falls, assist with day-to-day care, tend to minor cuts and other senior related caregiving duties. The cost of training varies from $200 to $500 and you can tap on the annual Caregivers Training Grant (CTG) to offset up to $200 of the training cost.
Click here for more details on the Eldercarer FDW Scheme.
4. Interim Disability Assistance Programme For the Elderly (IDAPE)
IDAPE applies to seniors who are unable to apply for Eldershield as they may have exceeded the maximum entry age or have pre-existing disabilities. For these seniors, IDAPE will provide a cash payout of $150 to $250 a month for needy elderly Singaporeans, should they meet the necessary criteria. The payments can be used to offset medical bills, nursing costs as well as for hiring a foreign domestic worker (FDW) to care for the disabled IDAPE claimant.
Find out more about IDAPE here.
5. Community Health Assist Scheme (CHAS)
The Community Health Assist Scheme, better known as CHAS, allows one to receive subsidies for medical and dental care at participating General Practitioners (GP) and dental clinics near their home. This is a tiered subsidy scheme, which means lower-income families will enjoy higher subsidies. Seniors who qualify for the Pioneer Generation Package will enjoy enhanced CHAS benefits regardless of their household income.
Visit chas.sg to find out more.
6. Seniors’ Mobility and Enabling Fund (SMF) for Assistive Devices
You can receive up to 90% subsidies for home healthcare items like catheters, milk supplements, adult diapers and assistive devices like walking sticks and wheelchairs that assist your senior loved one with their daily activities and enable them to age in place.
You can find out more about the Seniors’ Mobility and Enabling Fund (SMF) here.
7. Pioneer Generation Disability Assistance Scheme (PioneerDAS)
If your senior loved one is a pioneer with moderate or severe disabilities, they may be eligible to also receive $100 a month to help with their care needs.
Click here for more details.
8. Intermediate And Long Term Care (ILTC) Subsidies
The ILTC subsidies are provided for intermediate and long-term care that can be significant over longer periods of time. They can assist your elderly loved one who may need further care and treatment after being discharged from an acute hospital, or with supervision and assistance to manage daily life.
Refer to Tab 3 on the Ministry of Health list here to see the subsidies available for the following Home-based Services: Home Medical Care; Home Nursing Care; Palliative Home Care; Meals-On-Wheel; Escort/Transport Services; Home Personal Care.
9. Enhancement For Active Seniors (EASE)
This scheme allows HDB owners who are 65 or above, or have a family member in the household who is 65 and above, to make their flats elder-friendly by installing useful items like grab bars, slip-resistant bathroom floors and ramps that enable better mobility and help prevent falls with seniors at home.
Visit the AIC page here to find out what you can install in your flat using this subsidy.
10. Flexi-Medisave Scheme
With the Flexi-Medisave scheme, seniors aged 65 and above can use an additional $200 of their Medisave a year to offset outpatient medical treatments at CHAS-registered public-sector specialist clinics, GPs and polyclinics.
Contact the CPF Board to find out more about the Flexi-Medisave Scheme.
11. ElderShield 400
ElderShield is an opt-out scheme, meaning persons can opt-out of the insurance scheme if they wish to, that aims to provide basic insurance coverage to Singaporeans who are in need of long-term care support during their old age.
Under ElderShield 400, policyholders will receive a payout of $400 per month for a maximum period of 6 years (if you joined after September 2007) if they are assessed to have a “severe disability”. The criteria for severe disability is when a person is unable to perform three out of six Activities of Daily Living (ADLs).
Visit the Ministry of Health page here for more information on ElderShield 400.
The Singapore government also subsidises all senior citizens’ MediShield Life Premiums by up to 50 percent for lower- and middle-income households.
Lastly, you may also wish to look into the Silver Support Scheme and Pioneer Generation Package, to see if your senior qualifies for further financial assistance in their old age and visit the Agency for Integrated Care website under Financial Assistance.
We hope that this gives you a better understanding of the various eldercare schemes, grants and subsidies available, to help you provide better homecare for your senior without any financial worry.
If you would like to find out more about the elderly homecare services that Marigold Caregivers provides, give us a call at +65 9109 1965.
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Disclaimer: The words and other content provided in this blog, and in any linked materials, are not intended and should not be construed as medical advice. If the reader or any other person has a medical concern, he or she should consult with an appropriately-licensed physician or other healthcare workers.
Never disregard professional medical advice or delay in seeking it because of something you have read on this blog or in any linked materials.