Some people want to manage their plan funding entirely on their own while others prefer to have the admin taken care of through plan management.
While there are a few different ways to manage your NDIS plan, one option you may not know about is combination management. Combination is essentially accessing the great features of plan management while also self-managing the parts of your plan you want to have more control of.
In case you didn’t already know, there are 4 ways to manage your NDIS plan; agency managed, self-managed, plan managed and combination. We have more information on the first three options here. Let’s take a look at combination management and how it might work for you.
When you set up your NDIS plan, you can choose how you would like to manage your funding. With a combination style of management, you can use a different management style for different budget categories or parts of budget categories. For example, there may be some specific budget categories you want to manage yourself, so you could choose to self-manage those specific categories. But as self-management is quite a lot of work, you may choose to have the rest of your plan managed by a plan manager, to reduce the amount of time and effort you spend on self-management.
Depending on your personal circumstances, it might be easier to have your plan with one management style, but for some people the ease of choosing which budget categories they want more control over can make all the difference.
For example, the flexibility of having different budget categories means you could have your Consumables budget self-managed, so you have the flexibility to personally make claims through the NDIS portal. At the same time, you could have the rest of your budget categories plan managed so you don’t have to do the admin for your whole plan.
Getting combination management in your plan is easy! You just need to ask your NDIS planner or Local Area Coordinator (LAC) at your planning meeting or review meeting that you would like to use a combination of funding management types for your plan. You then need to choose the type for each support budget category or part of a budget category. If you elect to have any of the budget categories plan managed your planner will allocate funding to pay for your plan manager.
During COVID-19 the NDIS has become more flexible with ‘management only’ changes to your current plan without the need for a full plan review. If you would like to make changes to how your plan is currently managed you will need to reach out to your Early Childhood Early Intervention Coordinator, LAC or National Disability Insurance Scheme Planner or call the NDIS directly on 1800 800 110 and select option 5 to discuss your personal circumstances.
If you're interested in finding out more about combination management, contact us by phone or email to chat about how My Plan Manager can help make your life easier by managing all or part of your plan.
If you use the My Plan Manager Client Portal, you would have noticed the new passwordless login feature, which will probably be a different to what you’re used to. We’ve been listening to your feedback and questions about the new login system and are making some small changes to make it smoother for you, however we also want to take the time to explain why we have decided to use passwordless login and why we think it’s better for our clients.
How many internet sites do you have a login for? Chances are there’s a few: Facebook or other social media accounts, email accounts, bank accounts, online shopping accounts and a range of others.
Surveys estimate that most people have from 92 user accounts, up to 130 accounts. Remembering passwords for that many websites is really hard! Most people simply can’t do it, and even if they could it would take a huge effort.
This creates a big opportunity for hackers: reports estimate that up to 80% of hacking related data breaches are related to weak or compromised passwords.
If all of this information about passwords has made you feel a bit anxious – don’t worry. We and many other organisations are on the case. In fact, Microsoft, Apple, Google, Mozilla and many others have been working hard on this problem, and the industry has agreed that passwordless login technologies are the future. In fact, some organisations predict that passwordless will be the most common way to login within the next 8 years.
We will eventually remove traditional password login from the client portal. We are doing this in stages – the first stage (which we are in now) is to introduce our passwordless login and make sure our clients aren’t having trouble with it. For now, you can still use the old username and password login as a backup.
When you pay a provider upfront for a service you want to be reimbursed for the costs as quickly as possible, so you aren’t left out of pocket. There are some things you can do so your reimbursement goes to the right place straight away and we can get the money back to you quickly.
The most important thing is your email subject line. When emailing a reimbursement to us, the email subject line for reimbursements you should include one of these words or phrases:
Including one of these clear instructions in the subject line of your reimbursement email will make sure you get your money back as soon as possible. Our payment system recognises these and sends your email to the right place.
Send your reimbursement requests to our accounts inbox – [email protected] – the same place you send your regular invoices for payment.
This way it will go straight to the right team for processing asap.
You can also submit reimbursements through our online client portal. Simply select ‘Submit Claim’ and then click on Pay To > Myself for reimbursements.
There are three types of supports budgets that may appear in your NDIS plan: core, capacity building and capital. Your NDIS planner will tailor your NDIS plan with funding connected to achieving your goals and supporting you in your day-to-day life.
The core supports budget is funding to support the everyday tasks that relate to your plan and life goals. It’s quite flexible across the four support categories that make up the core supports budget, and it is up to you how you spend it. You can choose to spend your funding interchangeably between the support categories to better suit your needs. For example, you may prefer to spend more of your total core funding on meal preparation and less on taxi expenses. Your support coordinator and plan manager are experts in all things NDIS and can help you to understand how to use your NDIS plan flexibility to get the best outcome!
Name on NDIS portal – “Daily Activities”.
This category will cover all your expenses related to assisting you to undertake daily tasks. This could include:
Funding to cover transport expenses related to the impact of your disability, such as:
Funding to pay for everyday items and low risk/low-cost products, like:
Name on NDIS portal – “Social, community and civic participation”. Covers cost to access and participate in the community, such as:
There are lots of ways to use your core supports budget so you’re getting the best value for your funding.
As the core supports budget is flexible you can make it work for you and choose the services that best suit your life. Don’t be afraid to think outside the box! Is there a low-cost assistive technology such as an app that could help you to achieve smaller tasks in your day-to-day life? Could you have hand rails installed in the bathroom or around the house to improve your independence?
The majority of our clients have most of their NDIS funding allocated to the core supports budget, so making the most of this is important. Researching providers and finding a provider with competitive pricing can make a big different to your budget. One of the benefits of being plan managed is that you can use any provider, whether they are an NDIS-registered provider or not. Providers who aren’t NDIS-registered generally charge below the NDIS price guide. But it’s important to do your research, ask questions and trial a provider to find one who best suits your needs.
The core supports budget funds your essential everyday tasks and it also needs to last the whole way through your plan. This is where budgeting is important, as you don’t want your core budget to run out before your plan ends. Do the sums on your everyday expenses and work how much it will cost (roughly) to fund for the duration of your plan. If you’re a client of My Plan Manager, we can help you with budgeting, and our online client portal helps you view and track your funding so you can see what you’ve spent and how much you have left. If you’re not a client yet, find out how we could help you manage your plan.
To find out more about the other types of funding (capital supports and capacity building supports) or other NDIS lingo check out NDIS Category Confusion or NDIS Dictionary: Breaking down the jargon.
If you have any queries about how to use your funding please contact us via phone or email and we will be more than happy to assist.
Support worker matching platforms allow you to find and engage individual support workers. Many people like this option because it gives them more control to choose the right person for their needs.
But before you even get to choosing support workers, you need to choose which platform you’ll use. There are a few matching platforms available, so let’s look at what to consider and questions to ask to help you choose the best one for your needs.
There are a few matching platforms available for you to use, or look at further. Some major ones you might already be familiar with include:
Key questions to ask:
All platforms provide the ability to pay for care, but they work in slightly different ways with varying levels of automation, admin and steps involved. For example, they differ greatly around how easy it is to keep track of invoices and payments.
The in-app budgeting tools and a secure digital wallet are harder to come by but really useful so worth looking into.
If you use more than one person to meet your care needs, then you’ll need a matching platform that makes it easy to coordinate. Look into whether the matching platform offers:
This is a big one. The admin that goes with booking, managing and paying for support can be difficult. It’s worth looking into whether the matching platform allows you to:
All platforms have great browse and search functionality yet differ when it comes to ease of booking. Mable’s website is particularly user-friendly. Some platforms don’t have workers’ availability, meaning that making a booking isn’t instant.
Mobility has some helpful features such as automatically-calculated timesheets and the ability to see when workers are on their way to you.
Last, but not least - do your research and learn about all the safety features the matching platform offers.
At My Plan Manager, we like to keep the choice and control firmly in the hands of our clients, so it’s important to research a platform to make sure it meets your needs and expectations.
You may have never thought deeply about what your goals are, let alone sharing them with a complete stranger. But the NDIS requires you to set yourself goals and discuss them with your LAC or NDIS planner. Your NDIS plan funding will link to the purchase of services or items that will help you achieve your goals.
If you can think ahead about the best goals and budget support categories for your NDIS plan, you’ll be able to access the products or services that will help you to make the most of your plan and live your best life.
Devon is 55 years old and wants to access personal training classes through her NDIS plan. Her NDIS goal is to improve her health and wellbeing and build her knowledge of diet and exercise advice.
Oliver is 18 years old and has just finished attending high school. He wants to learn to cook. His NDIS goal is to improve (or develop skills to build) his knowledge of healthy and nutritious cooking including identifying ingredients, managing a budget and preparing food/cooking in a safe and effective manner. This allows him to use his NDIS funding on cooking classes that will help him to achieve this goal.
Ben is 15 years old and really wants to learn to swim. His NDIS goal is to increase his water awareness and water safety, as well as improving his core strength and social participation. Swimming lessons will help Ben to achieve this goal.
Sophie is 35 years old, a mum of two children and wants to build her skills to be able to manage her own NDIS plan. Her NDIS goal is that she would like support to understand, implement and maximise her NDIS plan, including building skills to make connections in her local community and increase her confidence and capacity to connect with new providers.
Please be advised that it will depend on your personal circumstances as to whether the NDIS will consider a support to be “reasonable and necessary” and these examples should be used to assist you to create your own goals to access the services that will give you more choice and control over your life.
You have your National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) plan set up and ticking along, so now what? Your plan is there to meet your needs and empower you to live a better life. That’s why it’s important to check in on your plan and make sure it’s working for you. My Plan Manager is here to help you make the most out of your plan so you can focus on your goals and what you want to achieve in life.
Your plan is designed to enable you to reach your goals and live your best life, so it’s important to check in on your plan around the halfway mark to ensure it’s on track. Spending too much early on is a problem just as not spending enough, so roughly halfway through your plan you should be around halfway through your total budget. If your plan is set up for a year, check in on it at the six-month mark or at the year mark if it’s a two-year plan. My Plan Manager can help you with budget management to keep you on track with your spending while making sure you’re getting as much value as possible from your plan.
There are ways to be a bit more creative with your spending and make your money go further. At My Plan Manager, we’ve been around the longest and know the NDIS inside out, so we are the experts in the many, varied ways you can use your funding! The NDIS price guides are the maximum amount you can be charged for a specific support, product or service. You can find a similar service that will charge under the price guide amount leaving you with extra money in your budget. An additional benefit of being a client with My Plan Manager is you can access any provider regardless of whether they are an NDIS-registered provider or not. We have some good resources on how to find NDIS service providers and you can always check with us or the National Disability Insurance Agency (NDIA) if you’re unsure. There’s no obligation to disclose you’re an NDIS participant either and sometimes services might be cheaper by paying upfront out of pocket and being reimbursed. Always make sure you compare before you commit to any providers.
Technology is designed to make our lives easier so make use of the tools available. My Plan Manager offers an online client portal and also a convenient mobile phone app to help you keep track of your spending. Through these tools you will be able to view your total budget spend, see how much you have spent and view past invoices so you can plan for future spending. It’s a good idea when reviewing your budget to keep a small percentage aside as an ‘emergency’ fund if you need it. My Plan Manager has a free budget calculator for all NDIS participants to use so you don’t overspend. We can also help you work out your spending and check in with you at key milestones to make sure your plan is on track.
How are you currently managing your funding? Is your current process working for you or could you benefit from some expert knowledge? If you are currently self-managed or agency management and would like to move to plan management, it is simply a matter of letting NDIS staff know you’d like a plan manager to support you (you can call the NDIS on 1800 800 110) and they’ll take it from there. We have a helpful step-by-step guide on how to get plan management included in your NDIS plan. If you are with another plan manager and would like to try My Plan Manager, that’s not a problem either. Our helpful guide takes you through a few simple steps to transfer from another plan manager over to My Plan Manager.
Sometimes the unexpected might happen and your budget may not last until the end of your plan. That’s why it’s important to keep an eye on your spending and discuss this with your plan manager as soon as you’re aware so they can help you through the process. If you aren’t with a plan manager, contact the NDIA or your LAC to let them know your circumstances have changed. The NDIS has a helpful guide on what to do if your plan is no longer meeting your needs. If you have the opposite problem and have money left at the end of your plan, we have some helpful tips on what to do.
The important thing to remember is your plan is designed to sustain consistent ongoing support but also enable you to achieve your goals. The benefit of having a plan manager is that time consuming things like admin and bills are taken care of so you can focus on the bigger picture of living your best life. Best of all, it’s free for you to use. Contact us via phone or email to chat more about the benefits of plan management today.
The National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) can be really confusing, especially for people who haven't had an NDIS plan yet. Once you break through the NDIS jargon and technical terms you will start to understand your plan, how to use your allocated budget and can unlock the potential of your plan to achieve your goals. Of course, your plan manager can also help you with this.
More about How does NDIS funding work?
