Interim Disability Assistance Programme for the Elderly

The Interim Disability Assistance Programme for the Elderly (IDAPE) is a government assistance scheme for a defined group of older Singapore Citizens with severe disabilities. It was established for people who could not join ElderShield when it launched in 2002 because they were already above the maximum entry age or had pre-existing disabilities. IDAPE is means-tested long-term-care assistance; it is not a universal senior benefit and does not replace CareShield Life or ElderShield coverage (AIC, accessed Aug 2026; MOH, accessed Aug 2026).

Who can qualify

The care recipient must be a Singapore Citizen living in Singapore and must meet the cohort rule: born on or before 30 September 1932, or born between 1 October 1932 and 30 September 1962 inclusive with a pre-existing disability as at 30 September 2002. The household must also pass the means test: monthly household income per person must be S$3,600 or less, or, where there is no household income, the property's annual value must be below S$21,000 (AIC, accessed Aug 2026).

The income-per-person test and the no-income property-value alternative are different denominators: a household should not substitute its total income for income per person, or treat annual value as a second income threshold when household income exists. AIC also describes annual value as the estimated gross annual rent of the property, and says 2026 subsidy levels use 2025 annual values (AIC, accessed 12 September 2026).

Severe-disability requirement

The care recipient must require full assistance with at least three of the six activities of daily living and must undergo a severe-disability assessment. For someone not living in a nursing home, the assessment must be conducted by an MOH-accredited severe-disability assessor; a nursing home may instead submit a Resident's Assessment Form. A diagnosis, age or receipt of another care benefit alone does not establish IDAPE eligibility, because the assessment examines functional assistance needs (AIC, accessed Aug 2026).

The applicant normally pays the assessment fee first, with reimbursement if the assessor finds the person severely disabled; a regular doctor or therapist is not automatically authorised unless listed as an MOH-accredited assessor. If the recipient is a nursing-home resident, the nursing home can help submit the Resident's Assessment Form instead of arranging the ordinary assessment route (AIC, accessed 12 September 2026).

Payouts and duration

The current AIC schedule provides S$250 per month for a household monthly income per person of S$0–S$2,600, or where the no-income household's annual value is S$21,000 or below. It provides S$150 per month for income per person of S$2,601–S$3,600. Payouts last for up to 72 months. The payment is intended to help with long-term-care needs such as a helper, care services or daily expenses; it is not an unrestricted universal pension (AIC, accessed Aug 2026).

Approved payouts are made to the nominated bank account in the following month and may include the month of application; AIC says a nursing-home resident may nominate the nursing home to receive the payout for nursing-home fees. AIC may suspend or cease payouts if there is a conflict, inconsistency or domestic dispute concerning the nominated account, so the 72-month limit describes scheme duration, not an unconditional payment promise (AIC, accessed 12 September 2026).

Application and scheme boundaries

Applicants can apply online through AIC's e-Services for Financing Schemes (eFASS), seek help from a nursing home, or use a hard-copy route through AIC. AIC says processing may take up to four weeks, with approved payouts made to the nominated bank account in the following month and potentially including the month of application. IDAPE is separate from ElderFund, Pioneer Generation Disability Assistance Scheme and Home Caregiving Grant, and AIC states that people must not be CareShield Life or ElderShield policyholders or supplement-plan policyholders, or have made claims under those arrangements, to meet IDAPE's scheme-specific condition (AIC, accessed Aug 2026).

If the care recipient lacks mental capacity, AIC describes application routes for an appointed donee or deputy and, in some circumstances, an immediate family member; successful applications made without a donee or deputy may require a court-appointed deputy within 12 months or payouts can be suspended. This is an application-and-payee safeguard, not an additional age or disability test (AIC, accessed 12 September 2026).