FAQs

If you can’t find the answer that you are looking for below, please don’t hesitate to get in touch with us. We are here to support everyone’s NDIS journey – Participants and providers! 

What is the difference between NDIS and NDIA? 

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The NDIS, ‘National Disability Insurance Scheme’ is the scheme that people with disability are part of. When they join the NDIS, they are known as participants. The NDIA, ‘National Disability insurance Agency’, is the government body that is in charge of implementing and running the NDIS.

In short, the NDIA (agency) runs the NDIS (scheme).

What is Plan Management? 

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Plan Management is a support option to assist participants and their communities to manage the financial side of their NDIS plan. There are 3 options available to manage funding of supports:
• Plan Managed
• Self-Managed
• NDIA (National Disability Insurance Agency) Managed, also known as Agency Managed
You can also have a combination of the above.

What does a Plan Manager do? 

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They take the stress out of managing the financial requirements of a Participant’s NDIS Plan. This involves:

• Receive and store participant invoices

• Process invoice claims through the NDIS portal

• Make payments of invoices claimed

• Send frequent statements to the participant and their community (with approval) 

Benefits of Plan Management 

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• Increased control over how your plan funding is used
• Use any provider you choose
• Assistance and knowledge of financial management
• Professional budget management
• Having someone assist with tracking the spend within the plan
• Having someone on your team that is knowledgeable and can assist with navigating the NDIS. 

How is Plan Management funded 

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Plan Management fees do not come out of your supports budget. They are calculated in addition to your support needs and paid separately by the NDIS. There is no out of pocket cost to you or your community.  

What is the difference between Self-Management and Plan Management? 

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Both of these options provide great freedom and choice and control over your NDIS plan. If you choose to self-manage, you do EVERYTHING yourself. You can engage any provider (registered or non-registered) and you are not bound by the NDIS price limits. However, choosing self-management means that you have a few extra responsibilities that, if you are Plan Managed you wouldn’t have. 
• Have an independent bank account in the NDIS participant's name
• Process your invoices by receiving, understanding and storing them for up to 5 years
• Pay your service providers (if self-managed, most providers require you to pay before you submit the NDIS claim)
• Claim supports invoice from the NDIS portal
• Manage and monitor the plan budget

Self-managing requires you to:
Plan Management takes all these stressors away from you and your community. You won't need to do any financial admin for your plan.  

Can the NDIS refuse my request to be Plan Managed? 

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No. Under the NDIS rules, any NDIS participant has the right to request and nominate a Plan Manager. It is important to know that you do not need to explain why you want a Plan Manager.

The NDIS cannot refuse your request for one. 

Does having a Plan Manager limit my choices?  

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No. You actually have more choice! Being Plan Managed means, you can engage registered and unregistered providers. It means that you can use your funding to pay for your classes at a local sports club or any other non-registered community organisation. Remember though that their fees must stay below the NDIS price limit. 

Does having a Plan Manager limit my choices?  

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No. You actually have more choice! Being Plan Managed means, you can engage registered and unregistered providers. It means that you can use your funding to pay for your classes at a local sports club or any other non-registered community organisation. Remember though that their fees must stay below the NDIS price limit. 

Why Apoio is a great fit for your NDIS community. 

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At Apoio, we are all about community and making sure that participants are getting the most out of their NDIS plan.
• We support the whole community
• We provide simple to use software
• We offer quick turnaround for enquiries and payments
• We give you a personalised independent service

How do my providers get paid? 

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• You receive a support

• Your provider emails their invoice to [email protected]

• We process the invoice in our system (you can also sign up for invoice alerts if you choose)

• Each invoice is checked and, once approved, a claim is made through the NDIS portal

• NDIS processes the claim and sends payment to Apoio

• Once funds have been received, we pay your provider

• We send a remittance advice to your provider stating that the invoice has been paid

What if the product or service required upfront payment?

If you paid for a product or service upfront with your own funds, we can process a reimbursement back to you. We will require a copy of the tax receipt to process this. All receipts must have a valid ABN. 

What are provider service agreements? 

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A service agreement is an agreement made between the NDIS participant and their providers. The Service Agreement sets out support terms, rates, support schedule, cancellation terms and other details of the arrangement. Whilst is it not mandatory to have a service agreement with all providers, we believe that it is best practice. 

If you have service agreements, we can put them into our system, reserve the funds and provide more detailed budget tracking and analysis of your NDIS funds. Send your signed service agreements to [email protected]  

What is covered in my plan?  

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NDIS plans are individual and specific to you and your life. The types of supports that the NDIS may fund include:

• daily personal activities

• transport to enable participation in community, social, economic and daily life activities

• workplace help to allow you to successfully get or keep employment in the open or supported labour market

• therapeutic supports including behaviour support

• help with household tasks to allow you to maintain your home environment

• help by skilled personnel in aids or equipment assessment, set up and training

• home modification design and construction

• mobility equipment

• vehicle modifications.

In general, the NDIS will fund claims for reasonable and necessary supports. This is for goods and services directly relevant to achieving the specific goals and objectives detailed in your NDIS plan. When you sign on with Apoio we will talk with you about your funding so that we can help you achieve your goals. 

What is not covered in my NDIS Plan?

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NDIS funding does not cover general everyday living expenses that people without disability would be required to pay, such as gym membership, rent, groceries, mobile phone or movie tickets. If you’re unsure or just want to check whether a particular support or item is likely to be funded, give us a call and we can help. 

How do I engage or change service providers? 

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If you already have service providers that you want to work with, that’s great. Our process is simple and we are able to work with almost any provider, as long as they have an ABN and the goods or service meets NDIA’s definition of “reasonable and necessary”. Whilst is it not mandatory to have a service agreement with your providers when your funding is Plan Managed, we believe that it is best practice.

How do I get Plan Management in my plan?  

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If you wish to change to Plan Managed funding, you should contact your NDIA planner or Local Area Coordinator (LAC). Ask them for a soft touch review requesting to change your budget type to “Plan Managed”. Unfortunately, we can’t do this for you, but we can help you with what you need to ask for. 

How do I use my allocated NDIS plan funds?  

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If your funds are Plan Managed, you simply need to find providers which you would like to use and ask them to send their invoices to Apoio for the services you receive.

What is ‘Reasonable and Necessary’?

The NDIS considers a product or support to be reasonable and necessary if it:

• Is related to your disability

• represents value for money

• Is likely to be effective and beneficial

• takes into account any informal supports given to you by your family, friends, support crew (including support workers, support networks and the community)

It does not include any day-to-day living costs that aren’t related to your disability support needs. 

Chat to us today to see how we can support you!

Plan Management is available to all NDIS participants.

Call 1300 136 999

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