Independent -VS- Non-Independent NDIS Plan Management
Written by: Edwina Wilkens l Marketing + Business Development Manager for Canny Plan Management
You’ve been approved for National Disability Insurance Scheme funding – congratulations! You’ve also made the decision to have your NDIS Funds managed by a registered NDIS Plan Management team – even better! Do you know if the NDIS Plan Management team you are looking to engage with is an independent NDIS Provider? Or do they offer other services within the realms of the NDIS?
Not all NDIS Plan Managers are the same – some independent NDIS Plan Managers are just that – independent of offering other NDIS services to NDIS Participants and some NDIS Plan Managers are not independent with “plan management” being just one of the many services they offer when it comes to the NDIS.
What it comes down to is what services the NDIS Plan Manager offers and whether there are potential conflicts of interest. Does your NDIS Plan Management team solely focus on plan management or are there other services they offer like support coordination for example?
Did you know that Canny Plan Management is an independent NDIS Plan Management team – meaning when it comes to the National Disability Insurance Scheme – the only thing we can help you with is plan management and helping you to manage your NDIS Budgets!
Support with NDIS Funds via NDIS Management
Plan Management is a type of disability service that is funded through the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS). The overarching function of NDIS Plan Management is to assist and support NDIS Participants to manage their NDIS Plan funding.
NDIS Plan Management can support NDIS Partcipants by:
- Managing and monitoring an NDIS Participant’s budget(s);
- Managing an NDIS Participant’s NDIS claims and disbursing funds to providers for services delivered;
- Providing regular statements to an NDIS Participant to show the financial status of their plan including prompt notification of over or under-utilisation; and
- Offering increased choice and control to an NDIS Participant over plan implementation and utilisation through additional plan financial assistance.
NDIS Participants can also receive advice from NDIS Plan Management providers about how to best utilise their NDIS Plan funding which can assist in building an NDIS Participant’s financial capacity and knowledge.
So, Do I Need An Independent NDIS Plan Manager?
It’s important that your NDIS Plan Management team can manage the financial aspects of your NDIS Plan with integrity and without bias. The National Disability Insurance Agency encourages NDIS Participants to engage with an independent plan manager who does not provide other NDIS funded supports to them. As per the NDIS Guide to Plan Management:
This will ensure that plan management services are impartial, enabling a participant to make informed decisions about their support arrangements.
Section 4 of the NDIS Commission Code of Conduct (external) described the expectations of providers to act with integrity, honesty, and transparency, which included managed real and perceived conflicts of interest.
However, as an NDIS Participant, you have the choice and control to choose any NDIS Provider for each of your services. The National Disability Insurance Agency recommends choosing an NDIS Plan Manager separately from your service providers.
Choose A Plan Manager + What To Look For?
There are a few key factors to be on the lookout for, so you know that you’re working with an independent NDIS Plan Management team.
NDIS Knowledge + Expertise
What is a trusted relationship if it is not one with expertise and knowledge? Your NDIS Plan Manager or NDIS Plan Management team should be experts in the National Disability Insurance Scheme. Be across current NDIS Pricing Arrangements and Price Limits (previously the NDIS Price Guide), all of the changes, upcoming changes as well as the general ins and outs of the NDIS itself.
Your independent, NDIS Plan Management team should ease your confusion about your budgets and line items. Navigating the NDIS can be tricky and confusing, you should be able to rely on your NDIS Plan Manager to give you impartial and expert advice around NDIS Pricing as well as the processes.
Choice and Control
A good NDIS Plan Manager puts you in the driver’s seat, so you have the choice and control over your own life – if and when you want it.
As per the National Disability Insurance Scheme website:
Under the NDIS, ‘choice and control’ is a term used to give participants power over the pursuit of their personal goals, and the planning, engagement and delivery of supports. This means, you have ‘choice and control’ over where, when and by whom the supports and services you need are provided.
A great NDIS Plan Manager or NDIS Plan Management team, like Canny Plan Management, will give you the flexibility of choice and control in who you choose to provide and deliver your support services. They will form part of your support network and offer you a personal, independent, non-biased, and responsive service that is focused on you reaching and achieving your goals.
Commitment to Manage Your Plan
What is a committed relationship if there is no trust? First and foremost you need to be able to trust your NDIS Plan Manager or your NDIS Plan Management team. Your NDIS Plan Manager will be taking care of your NDIS Budgets, paying invoices from the services providers have delivered, and keeping you informed of the status of your funding.
A great NDIS Plan Manager, like the team at Canny Plan Management, will offer you independent advice based on your individual circumstances and will work with you to maximise your NDIS Funding.
Ask The Hard Questions for Your NDIS Management
If we were to offer any advice to anyone that is looking to engage with an NDIS Plan Management team to help them with their NDIS Funding, it would be to consider these questions about the potential NDIS Plan Manager:
- Are they registered with the National Disability Insurance Agency?
- Do they provide financial expertise?
- Do they offer transparency?
- What communication options do they offer?
- What is their take on choice and control?
- Do they have an understanding of the disability being funded?
- Are they independent?
You have the choice and control to choose how your NDIS Funding is managed and by who – whether it be by yourself, the National Disability Insurance Agency, a registered NDIS Plan Management team, or a combination.
Canny Plan Management + Independent Help To Manage Your NDIS
Canny Plan Management are real people from real walks of life.
Our team has experience and expertise in the disability sector – and we are fiercely independent. We care about you and helping you in achieving your goals and aspirations.
Canny Plan Management offers a personal NDIS Plan Manager, dedicated to helping you understand and manage your NDIS Plan. Get in touch with our team to have a chat and ask us the questions that you have to see if we will be a good fit to form part of your support network.
