The National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) is opening up all kinds of different avenues where eligible people can access supports to help improve their lives. The National Disability Insurance Agency (NDIA) website is the best place to learn about eligibility and reasonable and necessary supports you may be entitled to.
Once you have determined your eligibility, the next step involves thinking about what kind of supports you need to help you reach your goals and who will manage your funding. You can see short videos of other peoples NDIS experiences here.
OK – so you are eligible for the NDIS and you are about to have your first meeting with an NDIA planner. The planner will ask you how you would like your plan to be managed. It is important you are prepared for this question as your choice will have an important impact on your supports that should not be ignored.
If you choose this option you can only use registered providers for your supports. This is not suitable for people who like to use mainstream services for supports like home maintenance services, personal training or employing their own staff.
People using a plan manager can use any provider for supports, registered or not. This gives you much more choice and flexibility in the type of supports you can access without the hassle of paying providers and keeping records.
Your provider sends their invoice to us. After verifying their accuracy, we pay them on your behalf. We send you monthly reports to keep you updated on where your money has been spent. We help you make the most of your funding budget...
You have choice and flexibility with this one too but you are responsible for paying bills, keeping records and sending reports to the NDIA.
This can be time-consuming and a heavy responsibility for yourself or a family member to take on. If you do ask to self-manage, the NDIA planner will assess whether you are capable of doing it. If the planner deems that the risk would be unacceptable, they will not allow it and will appoint a plan manager to handle your funding instead.
A combination of the above can often be best. Families often prefer to organise their supports direct with their providers but let a plan manager handle the paperwork.
Combination Example: Rachel contacts her support providers direct to organize when she wants her supports. Rachel doesn’t need the stress of dealing with bills and paperwork so we manage her plan for her. Her providers send us Rachel’s invoices and we pay them on time. Every month Rachel receives the reports that tell her when her NDIS budget has been spent. She contacts us occasionally when she has questions about the budget and we help her plan to make the most of it.
