22 Nov The National Disability Insurance Scheme(NDIS)
The National Disability Insurance Scheme(NDIS)
NDIS is a new model of funding for disability services in Australia and is designed to give people with disability (Participants) choice and control over their disability supports and services. The NDIS provides Funding only. It does not provide direct services. A person’s NDIS funding is detailed in their NDIS plan. The NDIS plan also includes information about the support and services the NDIS covers. Each participant chooses the service providers to provide the support listed in their NDIS plan. Participants can log in the NDIS secure website, the My Place Portal, to see their plan and how much NDIS funding they have at any given time. The NDIS provides participants with information about how to do this once plan is approved.
NDIS Plan
NDIS plan has separate sections called support areas. It includes information on NDIS processes, timelines for new participants and a glossary. It is important for you to take time to read this information thoroughly and complete information in each section before your planning meeting. If you need assistance completing the sections or have any queries, please contact Integral Home Care Advisor on 02 96744123 or simply send an email at admin@integralhomecare.com.au
When you are contacted by the NDIS planner or your Local Area Coordinator (LAC)
- Ask them if they have good understanding of your medical condition
- Ask for your planning meeting face to face which is much effective than telephone meeting
- If applicable advise them you have high medical support needs and ensure they understand that before commencing the planning meeting.
- Contact Integral Home Care (IHC) advisor who can assist with additional pre-planning with no charge and may be able to attend your planning meeting.
Services and supports I need to remain independent in my home and the community
Home care supports and consumables
the NDIS will fund reasonable and necessary supports to help you remain independent in your home and the community. These may include paid carers, and support workers to assist you with daily tasks such as washing, dressing, preparing meals, cleaning
your home, maintaining your garden, or developing new skills. You may also be eligible for respite care. NDIS will also fund consumable items related to your disability such as continence aids (pads, wipes, gloves ETC.), non invasive ventilation tubes and masks, Home Enteral Nutrition items(HEN).
Community access and social participation:
The NDIS will fund support to help you stay active in the community. This includes ensuring you can continue to interact with your community and engage with essential services and supports outside of your home.
Assistive Technology (Equipment and communication aids)
The NDIS will fund the repair and maintenance of your existing disability specific assistive technology. The NDIS will also fund the hire or purchase of assistive technology that meets the criteria of reasonable and necessary and has been prescribed by a health professional, such an Occupational Therapist, Physiotherapist or Speech Pathologist.
Improved daily living (Therapies/ Allied Health):
The NDIS will fund reasonable and necessary therapeutic assessments, reports, and interventions related to the impact of your disability based on your functional ability. These may include occupational therapy, Physiotherapy, Speech Therapy and Dietetics. The NDIS will not fund therapeutic interventions that are related to the acute medical aspects of your disability. These are the responsibility of the health system.
Home and Vehicle Modifications:
The NDIS may fund reasonable and necessary modifications to your home, that have been prescribed by an Occupational therapist. So you can continue to move around safely access the areas you need to use. The NDIS may fund modifications to a vehicle that have been prescribed by an occupational therapist.
Support Coordination – coordinating your NDIS supports
The NDIS considers it reasonable and necessary to fund the support coordination for people with sever disability requiring multiple supports and services. This means that people with sever disability can have assistance in coordinating their funded supports (Service Providers), informal supports(family and friends) and mainstream supports(healthcare and medical) if necessary. A support coordinator can assist you
- Navigate the NDIS
- Understand how you can use your funding flexibly
- Identify suitable providers for services and supports that you may needResolve issues related to your plan
To Know more about support coordination, you can talk to us on 02 96744123.
Managing my NDIS funding:
There are three options for managing your NDIS funding.
- NDIS managed : this means the NDIS can manage the funds on your behalf and so you can choose only NDIS approved providers to provide your services. These are providers who the NDS have assessed and who have agreed to set rates and services for services provided under NDIS, meaning they cannot charge more than the set rate for services. NDIS approved provider bill the NDIS directly for your services, and you will see your funding balances change on the NDIS My Place Portal as they do so.
- Self-Managed: this means you are responsible for receiving and paying invoices from your service provider, and then reimburse yourself from Your NDIS funding using the My Place Portal. This method allows you to choose providers who are not NDIS approved who may charge higher rate for standard services than those set out in the NDIS guidelines. This
method gives you more flexibility, but requires more work from you. - Plan Managed: This means the NDIS pays a plan management agency to act as financial manager of your funds. In this case the providers you choose may not be NDIS approved, however they must still agree not to charge more than the maximum price for their particular price as set out by the NDIS. Your service providers will send their invoices to the plan management provider who pays them, then claims the funds back from your plan. This method offers you more flexibility than an NDIS managed plan, and is less work than self- managing.
As your plan will contain funding grouped into budgets you can even choose a combination of these methods to manage your plan. For example you may choose to self-managed improved daily living budget which covers allied health, but keep the rest of the plan NDIS managed.