The NDIS (National Disability Insurance Scheme) enables individuals with disabilities under the age of 65 in Australia to get care and services. Plan management and support coordination are two phrases related to the NDIS, although they are not the same. Many people believe that plan management and support coordination are synonymous. Although they are both beneficial, here’s how you can differentiate NDIS plan management and support coordination.
NDIS Plan Management
You may manage your NDIS plan in the most effective manner possible by making use of one of the available options, which is plan management. Plan management is responsible for all activities and responsibilities relating to financing and the financial management of your NDIS financing.
Plan managers perform the same functions as your NDIS accountants, namely managing your NDIS program and taking care of your budget to ensure that participants can accomplish their objectives in the most efficient manner possible. A plan manager assists NDIS participants with various activities, including paying bills on their behalf, giving monthly budget statements, monitoring funds, avoiding overspending and spending less of the NDIS budget, and more. They also look after how much money is still in your NDIS plan’s budget.
Whether or whether you want plan management in your NDIS plan will be a question the NDIS will put to you. At the NDIS planning meeting, you may ask to have any request added to your plan.
How a Plan Manager Can Help You
A plan manager provides assistance to participants of the NDIS with a number of tasks, such as the following:
- Be the authority on issues pertaining to NDIS financing.
- Fixes billing-related problems
- Paying your service providers on your behalf
- Handles the claiming of bills connected to the NDIS
- Pays attention to budget under- or overspending.
- Assists in managing your financial reporting
- Utilise the NDIS platform to submit claims for funding.
NDIS Support Coordination
In contrast to NDIS plan management, support coordination does not assist NDIS participants in managing their plan funds or other financial aspects of their plan. Support coordination and plan management are two separate but related functions.
Participants in the NDIS are provided assistance through support coordination in the identification and establishment of connections with service providers who can meet all of their requirements and offer them the most beneficial services. Participants in the NDIS may be connected to service providers located anywhere in the nation via their support coordinators.
If the NDIS has approved your plan, you will have access to a support coordinator inside your plan regardless of whether it is plan-managed or self-managed.
How a Support Coordinator Can Help You
Support coordinators are there to help you put your NDIS plan into action and link you with the appropriate programs and service providers so that you may get the highest quality of care possible via the NDIS. The following is a list of the services that an NDIS member may get from a support coordination service provider:
- Assist you during your journey with the NDIS.
- To enable you to understand the details of your NDIS programme completely
- Will get you ready for the meeting where the plan will be reviewed.
- Connect you with suitable providers so that you may achieve your objectives.
Questions for Selecting a Support Coordinator or Plan Manager
You may suggest that the NDIS include services for plan management or support coordination at the meeting when your NDIS plan is being planned. In the event that NDIS approves your application, the plan management or support coordination feature will be a part of your NDIS program. When selecting the ideal plan manager or support coordinator, the following are a few of the queries you should contemplate:
- Do the professionals in charge of your NDIS plan management have prior experience handling funding?
- Are the support coordinators equipped with a sufficient amount of prior work experience in the field of disability?
- Are they dedicated to assisting you in the most effective way imaginable to achieve your goals?
- Are the plan managers responsible for your care committed to assisting you in achieving your NDIS objectives?
- Do the plan managers provide assistance to ensure that you effectively handle the NDIS finances at your disposal?
- How often do they speak with you to check that you are carrying out your program’s instructions?
These are some of the questions you should think about asking plan managers or support coordinators at your NDIS meeting.
Conclusion
The services of plan management and support coordination are the ones that assist persons with disabilities in putting their NDIS plans into the most effective action possible. Even while the NDIS programme itself is a boon, the search for effective NDIS plan management or support coordination is an added bonus.
Therefore, keep the questions mentioned above in mind when selecting a plan manager or support coordinator in order to prevent any more issues or losses associated with your plan.
