A nursing home in Singapore starts from about $3,900 a month before any government help, according to the Agency for Integrated Care (AIC). That is the sticker price almost no eligible family actually pays. Since 1 July 2026, a Singapore Citizen in the lowest income bands gets 75% off through means-tested MOH subsidies, or 80% if born in 1969 or earlier, which can pull a $3,900 bill down to roughly $780 to $975 a month. Layer on CareShield Life payouts, MediSave and the right scheme, and the cash you fork out each month can drop further. This guide breaks down the 2026 fees, the exact subsidy bands, the insurance and MediSave money you can tap, and how to actually get a place.
AIC lists the basic cost of subsidised nursing home care as starting from $3,900 a month before subsidy, depending on the level of care your family member needs. Someone who is mostly independent but needs supervision sits at the lower end. Someone who is bed-bound, tube-fed or needs round-the-clock skilled nursing sits much higher.
Type of home matters as much as care level. Government-funded and Voluntary Welfare Organisation (VWO) homes are where the MOH subsidy applies, and AIC puts their basic cost from $3,900 a month before subsidy. Fully private nursing homes, which take no MOH subsidy, often run $3,000 to $5,000 or more a month for a shared room, and higher again for a private room.
The headline fee bundles a lot in: 24-hour care and monitoring, accommodation and meals, nursing care, doctor visits, basic medical equipment and simple rehab activities. Watch for add-ons that sit outside the base fee, such as diapers, milk feeds, specialised therapy, ambulance transport and one-off medical consumables. Ask any home for an itemised quote before you commit.
| Type of home | Typical monthly fee | MOH subsidy? | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|
| Subsidised VWO / government-funded | From $3,900 (basic); ~$2,000-$3,600 net range | Yes, up to 80% (citizens) | Means-tested families who qualify |
| Private, shared room | $3,000-$5,000 | No | Those above the income cap or wanting faster placement |
| Private, single room | $5,000+ | No | Privacy, premium facilities |
Update, 13 October 2026: MOH raised these subsidies on 1 July 2026. Citizens born in 1969 or earlier now get up to 80%, the top band now runs to a PCHI of $1,500, and households up to $4,800 PCHI now get some help. The single biggest lever on your bill is the Ministry of Health means-tested subsidy for residential long-term care. Singapore Citizens get up to 75% off, or up to 80% if born in 1969 or earlier, and Permanent Residents up to 50%, applied at MOH-funded homes only. The exact tier depends on your household's Monthly Per Capita Household Income (PCHI) under the bands that took effect on 1 July 2026.
PCHI is total gross household income, including bonuses, allowances and commissions, divided by the number of family members living together in the household, including the resident. For a household with no income, MOH instead looks at the Annual Value of the home: an Annual Value of $21,000 or below qualifies for the top tier (80%, 75% or 50%), while above $21,000 gets nothing. If you are unsure where you land, the annual value of your flat is on your property tax notice from IRAS.
| Monthly PCHI | Citizen born in 1969 or earlier | Citizen born after 1969 | PR subsidy |
|---|---|---|---|
| $1,500 and below | 80% | 75% | 50% |
| $1,501 - $2,300 | 65% | 60% | 40% |
| $2,301 - $2,600 | 55% | 50% | 30% |
| $2,601 - $3,600 | 35% | 30% | 15% |
| $3,601 - $4,800 | 15% | 10% | 5% |
| $4,801 and above | 0% | 0% | 0% |
Say a $3,900 monthly fee, a Singapore Citizen resident born after 1969, and a household PCHI of $2,000 (the $1,501-$2,300 band, so 60% subsidy). The subsidy covers $2,340, leaving $1,560 a month before any insurance or MediSave is applied. Drop the PCHI to $1,200 and the subsidy becomes 75%, cutting the fee to $975 a month, or $780 for a resident born in 1969 or earlier, who gets 80%.
If the resident is severely disabled, national long-term care insurance pays cash that you can use to offset nursing home bills. Severe disability has a strict definition: being unable to perform 3 or more of the 6 activities of daily living (washing, dressing, feeding, toileting, walking or moving around, and transferring). Payouts depend on a separate assessment against that 3-of-6 test, so do not assume a nursing home place means a payout.
CareShield Life is the current scheme, automatic for people born in 1980 or later; older residents are covered only if they joined, so check which scheme a parent is on. Payouts are tied to age and start higher than the old ElderShield: as an illustration from CPF, someone born in 1980 claiming at age 46 in 2026 receives $689 a month for life. From 2026 the annual escalation of payouts doubles to 4%, so the amount grows faster than before. Those born in 1979 or earlier may still be on ElderShield, which pays a flat $300 a month (ElderShield 300) or $400 a month (ElderShield 400) for a capped number of years.
A nursing home can submit the resident's assessment form on your behalf instead of arranging a separate disability assessment, and the payout can be directed straight to offsetting the bill. If you want the mechanics of the wider CPF safety net, see our CareShield Life guide.
After subsidy and insurance, MediSave can chip away at what remains. A severely disabled person can withdraw up to $200 a month through MediSave Care to help with care costs. MediSave is also what pays the CareShield Life or ElderShield premiums in the first place, so the account is doing double duty.
For families who still cannot cover the bill, MediFund is the safety net of last resort. It is a government endowment fund that helps needy Singapore Citizens with remaining medical and care bills after all other subsidies and MediSave have been applied. A medical social worker at the home or hospital assesses each application case by case.
From January 2026, the Matched MediSave Scheme tops up eligible seniors dollar-for-dollar: put in $1,000 and the government matches $1,000, up to $5,000 over five years. Pioneer and Merdeka Generation seniors also receive extra outpatient and MediSave benefits that ease the surrounding healthcare costs. A separate interim rebate ran from 1 July 2025 to 30 June 2026, giving subsidised Singapore Citizens additional daily rebates on nursing home, chronic sick unit and psychiatric care fees; it ended as the higher subsidies above started on 1 July 2026.
You cannot just walk a parent into a subsidised home. Placement runs through AIC and needs a referral. The route depends on where your family member is now.
If they are in hospital, the medical social worker arranges the referral and the means test before discharge. If they are at home, a polyclinic or any medical social worker who knows the case can refer them, or you can walk into an AIC Link office for help. AIC then matches the resident to a home with a vacancy, so location and timing are not always your choice, especially for popular homes. Subsidy eligibility runs in parallel: you complete the household means test, and you can pre-check your likely band using the Household Means-Testing self-assessment or by calling AIC.
Treat the net monthly fee as a recurring liability that can run for years, not a one-off. A resident who pays $1,500 a month net for five years has spent $90,000, and fees creep up with inflation and rising care needs. Build that into the household cash flow well before the day you need a bed.
If you are weighing a nursing home against staying at home with help, our broader elderly care options and cost guide compares home care, day care and nursing homes side by side. To stress-test whether your own savings can absorb a parent's care bill on top of your other goals, run the numbers through the financial health check or map the longer arc with the retirement calculator.
AIC lists subsidised nursing home care from about $3,900 a month before subsidy, while private homes run roughly $3,000 to $5,000 or more. After means-tested MOH subsidies of up to 80% for citizens, a $3,900 bill can fall to about $780 a month.
Subsidies apply to Singapore Citizens and Permanent Residents staying in MOH-funded homes. The exact tier is set by household means-testing on Monthly Per Capita Household Income, or by the home's Annual Value if the household has no income. Citizens get up to 75%, or 80% if born in 1969 or earlier, and PRs up to 50%.
Yes. If the resident is severely disabled (unable to do 3 of 6 activities of daily living), CareShield Life pays a monthly cash payout, illustrated at $689 for a 2026 claimant born in 1980. MediSave Care allows withdrawals of up to $200 a month, and MediSave pays the scheme premiums.
Get a referral from a hospital, polyclinic or medical social worker, or visit an AIC Link office. AIC matches your family member to a home with a vacancy and runs the means test for subsidies. Call AIC on 1800-650-6060 for help.
This is general financial information for Singapore, not personal financial advice. Figures change, so verify current rates against the official sources above before acting. See our full disclaimer.
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