New pricing arrangements for the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) will begin from July 1. Recommended by an Independent Pricing Review (IPR) these will be implemented by the National Disability Insurance Agency (NDIA).
A new 2.5 per cent temporary loading on attendant care prices will help providers with their overheads. The loading will be 2.5 per cent in 2018-19 and 1.25 per cent in 2019-20. Taking into account growth in wage and overhead costs, the price limit for standard intensity 1:1 attendant care supports will increase by 7.6 per cent on 1 July 2018.
Other new arrangements starting on July 1 include: more flexible group community participation supports with increased price limits including allowance for capital costs when these supports are delivered in a specialist centre; a new option for Short Term Accommodation (STA) to allow for a 1:3 support worker to participant ratio; and more flexible provisions for provider travel and appointment cancellations.
The NDIA has provided in principle support to all 25 recommendations contained in the IPR and is working to implement the remaining recommendations.
Further reforms to therapy and complexity recommendations, will be implemented in late 2018 following further consultation and analysis. To ensure participants are not adversely impacted by price limit increases, price changes will be accompanied by automatic updates to participant budgets and service bookings.
For more information visit: www.ndis.gov.au .