Knowledge is power.
In this article, we explain how the NDIS Pricing Arrangements and Price Limits (formerly known as the NDIS Price Guide) can unlock better supports and more funding value to give you greater choice and control over your plan and providers.
The National Disability Insurance Agency (NDIA) releases the new NDIS Pricing Arrangements and Price Limits each year on 1 July, and regular updates are made throughout the year.
Designed to let providers know the maximum price they can charge for their services, and to help participants understand how their plan budget can be spent, the document includes information about:
We know, it sounds dry and not very interesting, but here’s why this document is important for you.
Some supports that are available in the NDIS can feel a little ‘one-size-fits-all’. That means they may feel like they’re designed for you, not by you. By better understanding the NDIS Pricing Arrangements and Price Limits, you’ll be better prepared to access services that meet your specific needs.
For example, if your interests are health and fitness, you might want to consider using a support worker who has similar hobbies – that way, you’re working with someone who understands your goals and can support you to achieve them.
Alternatively, if you’re passionate about playing guitar, why not consider a support worker who’s involved in the local music scene?
The key rule you need to remember is that your provider should be supporting you to access the community and charging you at – or below – the price limit.
So, if your support worker also happens to be a qualified personal trainer or guitar teacher, that’s great. If you want to do a workout in the park, or head to a local gig, that’s fine too. Designing your own services means you choose how and when you want to be supported, and by whom.
Just make sure that when your provider is invoicing you for supports, they let us know how they’re supporting you. This means including a clear description of supports, line items, quantities and price per hour on each invoice. You can find out everything you need to know about invoicing best practice and how your providers can get paid faster here.
Of course, some supports are a little less flexible than others. You don’t want to swap out services that require specialised expertise – like physiotherapy from a physiotherapist. This is because seeing a qualified professional is critical to making sure you reach your plan goals.
A tip to connect to providers who may better cater to your interests is to seek them through mainstream services, like a gym, football club or music school. Decide what qualifications you want your providers to have, then ask if they work with NDIS clients and what their hourly rate is.
When you know the maximum price a provider can charge through the NDIS, you can better gauge value and find competitive pricing. A good tip is to ask questions about how much a support will cost. Prospective providers should be transparent about their pricing and let you know about any additional costs you may incur as part of a service – for example, travel or transport.
Page 57 of the NDIS Pricing Arrangements and Price Limits sets out the support items that enable you to engage in community, social and recreational activities, and their price limits. Their price cap is $62.17 per hour during a weekday, which gives you a benchmark to compare value against.
When you’re looking for a service provider, we recommend sourcing a minimum of two quotes that lay out the cost of services and enable you to compare prices.
The NDIS Pricing Arrangements and Price Limits document is broken up into three parts:
All NDIS supports fall into one of three support purposes: Core, Capital or Capacity Building.
Each support purpose has different support categories. For example, Core Supports has:
There are 15 support categories in total.
Line items are codes that identify which budget in a participant’s NDIS plan their supports should be paid from. The NDIS Pricing Arrangements and Price Limits document includes more than 800 codes. Whilst including a code on an invoice isn’t essential, it’s helpful for ensuring your providers get paid in a timely manner.
At My Plan Manager, we check each invoice against the NDIS Pricing Arrangements and Price Limits to ensure providers are not charging you more than the document sets out. If they are, we’ll ask them to amend their invoice and resend it to us.
We also encourage you to speak with us about the supports you want to access and to check if your NDIS plan will cover them. If you need help to understand the NDIS Pricing Arrangements and Price Limits, you can email us at [email protected] or call us on 1800 861 272 from 8am-6pm (SA time), Monday to Friday and we will happily assist.
