NDIS Pre-planning | Central Coast Options Disability Support

NOW is a great time to start pre-planning your NDIS goals. At Options Disability Support, we’ve been listening to the NDIS pre-planning questions of families and participants. Many of their questions may be questions you’re pondering too.

The Options Disability Support program team has compiled a list of the NDIS pre-planning questions its been asked by Central Coast families, with answers to help guide you in setting your NDIS goals.

ABOUT THE NATIONAL DISABILITY INSURANCE SCHEME (NDIS)

Q: What is the National Disability Insurance Scheme?
A: The NDIS will change the way people with a disability, their families and carers are supported in Australia. It will give people with a disability the right types of support to set and meet their goals.
You can learn more at ndis.gov.au

Q: Am I eligible for the NDIS?
A: If you are a participant of Options Disability Services, you are already considered eligible for the NDIS, but in general, if you have a permanent disability that impacts on your everyday life and you require significant support, you will be eligible.

Q: What is a ‘reasonable and necessary’ support?
A: These are the kinds of supports you need to live your life. These supports must:

Assist you to pursue your goals, objectives and aspirations.
Be related to your disability.
Not include day-to-day living costs unrelated to your disability support needs. For example, the NDIS won’t cover your food or regular living costs.
Represent value for money (and be the most cost effective option).
Be likely to be effective and beneficial for you.
Take into account your informal and mainstream support, like the kinds of help you get from family.
Not be something that is the responsibility of another service system.
Learn about the kinds of reasonable and necessary supports others have received.

You can learn more at ndis.gov.au

Q: If it’s an insurance scheme, will I have to pay?
A: No, you will not have to pay to be part of the NDIS. However, you will need to pay for the regular cost of activities you undertake through the NDIS, for example a movie ticket, or gym memberships.

Q: Will the support funding and level of support I have now stay the same under the National Disability Insurance Scheme?
A: The support you receive from the NDIS will be determined by the National Disability Insurance Agency (NDIA). The service you receive now should not reduce if you are able to clearly demonstrate how that support is helping you meet your goals. You may be able to get more support depending on your needs and goals. The funding for your support is dictated by the NDIA’s price categories. The amount of funding will depend on the type of support you receive and whether you receive individual support or support in a small group.

Q: I know I have to make a plan, but who do I give my plan to?
A: Options Disability Support is offering to help families with their planning. It has pre-planning tools you will use during face to face meetings with a key worker to help you prepare for a meeting with a Local Area Coordinator. You can do this work with Options Disability Support, on your own, or using another service provider. The Local Area Coordinator acts for the National Disability Insurance Agency and will help set and submit your final plan ahead of you being allocated your funding.

Q: I want to do my pre-planning with another service provider, but will it mean I can no longer access Options programs?
A: Doing your pre-planning with another disability service provider will not limit your access to services or programs at any provider, including Options. Your plan will provide you with the funds to meet your goals with providers of your choice.

Q: I have heard only the funded individual can do the planning?
A: That’s incorrect. Family members and disability support providers are important advisers in getting an individual’s plan, and the goals of the coming 12 months, right. They can also attend your planning meeting if you so desire.

Q: What will it cost me to set me plan?
A: You have flexibility in setting your plan. Options Disability Support is offering to assist you in your pre-planning so you’ll be ready when you meet with a Local Area Coordinator. This will cost you nothing. It is also fee-free when you meet with the Local Area Coordinator. The Local Area Coordinator, or LAC, is acting on behalf of the National Disability Insurance Agency (NDIA).

Q: How am I allocated a Local Area Coordinator?
A: Local Area Coordinators will contact you because you are registered with a disability support services. The organisation acting on behalf of the National Disability Insurance Agency (NDIA) across the Central Coast is St Vincent de Paul.

Q: Will the Local Area Coordinator contact the client directly, or a family member?
A: Options Disability Support has provided the contact details we have listed as a primary, or key contact, to the National Disability Insurance Agency. This will be the person contacted by the Local Area Coordinator.

Q: What training has been given to Local Area Coordinators? Will they have a background in disability support? How will they know the correct level of support to meet my needs?
A: On the Central Coast, St Vincent de Paul is the organisation that has been contracted by the National Disability Insurance Agency (NDIA) to act on its behalf and to employ and manage Local Area Coordinators. St Vincent de Paul was selected by the NDIA. We are unsure at this stage if they will have disability planning experience. It is essential therefore that you pre plan to make sure that your support needs and goals are made very clear to your allocated planner.

ABOUT MANAGING MY NDIS FUNDS

Q: What if my funding runs out before the end of the plan?
A: Your plan is designed to be well considered and thought through to manage all your funding needs at the start of your 12 month funding cycle. However, if there are extraordinary circumstances that change your plan, you will be able to declare them and seek a review of your needs.

Q: Will I lose money if my circumstances change?
A: Your plan is a 12-month plan and will be funded according to the support needs you have identified within that 12 months. Your funding in one year may be higher or lower in following years because your circumstances and needs will have changed.

Q: Will I lose money if I stop accessing the services I have identified in my plan?
A: Your plan is a 12-month plan and will be funded according to the support needs you have identified within that 12 months. Your funding in one year may be higher or lower in following years because your circumstances and needs will have changed.

Q: What is the funding cycle of my plan?
A: Your plan starts following planning meetings with a Local Area Coordinator and is registered, by the coordinator, with the National Disability Insurance Agency. You will be notified by the National Disability Insurance Agency that your funding is available.

Q: Is my funding package portable?
A: Yes. The scheme is national. Your funding can travel with you.

Q: How do I know what funding is available for the kind of supports I need?
A: You can learn more about the kind of funding you can receive for different support needs using the NDIS price guide. You can source this online here: http://www.ndis.gov.au/2015-price-guide-vic-nsw-tas

Q: Are there economies of scale for group programs?
A: You will be funded by the NDIS according to whether your support is individual, or in a small group. You can learn more about the kind of funding you can receive for different support needs using the NDIS price guide. You can source this online here: http://www.ndis.gov.au/2015-price-guide-vic-nsw-tas

Q: Will home support for independent living skills be funded under the NDIS?
A: Yes, as will a range of in home supports.

Q: Can I choose to self-manage some of my funding and have the NDIA manage the rest?
A: There are three ways to manage you supports.

1. Managed by the National Disability Insurance Agency (NDIA)
In this case, the money you have been allocated to fund your 12-month plan stays with the NDIA and you can negotiate with NDIS-registered service providers to ‘buy’ the services that will deliver your planning goals. Registered NDIS providers can charge a maximum set amount for their services as listed by the NDIS in the state/territory price list. Once a service provider is in place to help you meet your planned goals, the provider can claim directly from the NDIA. You can monitor expenditure of your funds through an online portal designed to track your funding and can also expect to receive regular invoices from the service provider.

2. Self-managed
As you go through your planning process with your Local Area Coordinator, you will declare that you would like to manage your own funding to fulfil your planning goals. You’ll provide the NDIA with details of a bank account and once your plan is approved and funding allocated you can purchase your supports from both NDIS-registered providers and other providers you feel can better service your goals. Providers who are not registered with the NDIS must have an Australian Business Number (ABN) and it will be for you to ensure they have the insurances and qualifications you are comfortable with. These providers are also not required to set their prices as per the NDIS pricing guide. With your NDIS funds you will pay for a provider’s services, according to invoices it issues to you. Invoices and payments will still need to registered on the NDIA’s online portal to be audited and ensure transparency regarding funding expenditure and goals met. Under this model, you can include funding support in your plan to assist you with the budgeting, record-keeping and monitoring of your services.

3. Managed by a third party on your behalf
Much like the self-managed model, you can choose any service provider – even those not registered with the NDIS – and pay a third party to manage your funding. When planning your funding needs with your Local Area Co-ordinator, discuss the inclusion of this goal to have a third party manage your NDIS funds as part of your plan. This third party, or Plan Manager, will file and record your invoices and track you expenditure of NDIS funding, providing you with a regular update or report on your funding and goals.

Q: What if there’s a change of Government? Will the scheme change?
A: The scheme is a Federal Government initiative that has bipartisan support. A change of Government will not alter the desire of the Federal Government to see it continue.

Q: I’ve heard the subsidies for mobility allowance/taxi transport have changed? Can you please explain that?
A: If you require transport support, an amount will be allocated to you. This will replace the current Mobility Allowance. The amount you can claim on a voucher for a taxi fair will increase to $60.
About Options Disability Support and its role in the NDIS

Q: What is the goal of Options Disability Support in transitioning to the National Disability Insurance Scheme?
A: To work with you to make sure your family member, and your family, get the very best from the NDIS. We are a small disability services provider and we know your family member. We want to see them get the right amount of funding for the supports they’ll need against their first NDIS plan.

Q: Will Options Disability Support be offering the same services as present following rollout of the National Disability Insurance Scheme?
A: Options Disability Support, as part of the Central Coast community, has been offering creative, dynamic and innovative life skills, work skills and recreation programs for people with a disability for more than 20 years. Its programs are constantly evolving to meet the support needs of participants and the rollout of the NDIS has been a great opportunity to talk to families and participants about the programs we offer. We expect many of our best-loved programs to stay just as they are and are looking forward to delivering new programs that will meet your changing needs.