NDIS Price Guide Changes
The first phase of findings from the Independent Pricing Review (IPR) have been adopted in the 2018-19 NDIS Price Guide.
The IPR, delivered by McKinsey & Company in February, looked at the pricing strategy for the NDIS and made 25 recommendations – all of which were accepted in principle by the NDIA.
The new release of the Price Guide, released on 1 July, addresses 10 [numbered] recommendations in these areas:
[4] Regional Travel
[9] High intensity loading for centre-based activities
[10] Short Term Accommodation
[14] Temporary Support for Overheads (TSO)
[15] Cancellation policy for core supports
[16] Group supports
[18] Therapy Assistants (phase one)
[19] Therapy travel (phase one)
[20] Cancellation policy for therapy
[21] Reports requested by the NDIA
The NDIA wants the changes to assist providers with the additional costs associated with transitioning over to the NDIS, particularly around registration and compliance.
Of the 592 line-item services (known as ‘Supports’) listed in the guide:
95 have changed price
87 new Supports have been added and
23 removed
The largest price increases were for ‘Group Based Activities In The Community’ - some of which are up by 25%.
Other big risers are Supports that deliver standard intensity attendant care, such as assistance with daily personal and household activities, and community participation. The increases for these items include a 2.5% Temporary Support Overheads loading. This is aimed at heading off the risk highlighted in the IPR that many providers may leave the market, creating a supply shortage for these services.
The NDIA has removed 20 items in the Assistive Technology support category, such as wheelchairs, postural chairs and wheeled walkers. Most of these items needed to be quoted for – the NDIS requires at least three quotes, which the IPR found it to be an unreasonable demand for many people, especially those living in remote regions.
These Supports are now covered by eight new line items added to the guide in the Assistive Technology category.
In line with the IPR’s recommendations [9] ‘High intensity loading for centre-based activities’ and [16] ‘Group supports’, most of the new items included in the updated guide related to group-based activities and care.
The list has 74 new Support Items that relate to ‘Group Based Activities In A Centre’ or ‘In The Community’.
We have analysed the price guide and as promised to our Centro FREE users we will have all of these changes updated and ready on 1 July. No need to compare spreadsheets or risk having your claims rejected – simply search the Registration group you are interested in, or search for the support line item. You can be assured that the pricing is up-to-date.
All of our products are constantly kept up to date with the latest pricing information. Explore our products here.