The Apoio Pulse – Issue 15

Do you smell that? It's the sweet scent of a new Pulse Issue!

Welcome to the 15th issue of The Apoio Pulse - This week we want to talk about the role of an NDIS Plan Manager! In fact, we did contemplate standing on top of the biggest building to yell this to you all, but then decided, this was maybe the better way to say it….. at this point in time, PLAN MANAGERS ARE NOT NDIS GATEKEEPERS!

We do not play the role of being a gatekeeper to a participant's NDIS funds. You’ve probably heard the word ‘gatekeeper’ mentioned a fair bit lately. It’s one of the ‘buzz words’.

What most people are concerned about is that some plan managers are playing this role and saying hard no’s to certain claims. THIS IS NOT OUR ROLE! All this does is cause angst for participants, representatives and support coordinators alike.

Now, when it comes to the role of plan managers, it's important to understand that part of our current role is to offer advice and guidance to help make informed decisions about how funding is utilised within plan budgets. The NDIS was designed to give people with disabilities more control over their lives, and that includes their funding. If a participant wants to use their funds in a way that the plan manager thinks is unreasonable, it's not our place to say no. However, we do have due diligence to follow and where it doesn’t meet our reasonable and necessary assessment, there may be a delay in processing; approval from the NDIA may be required prior to processing. Through all our process though, providing education and understanding is imperative and, in our opinion, best practice.

We’re there to help participants achieve their goals, and we want to see them succeed. Each Plan Manager will have a different approach when it comes to reasonable and necessary and claiming however, we are not there to restrict or control spending.

At Apoio, we are all about offering support and guidance to help our participants make informed decisions about how to use their funding. We’re on their team! We are their biggest Cheerleader!

If you have a question about [if] a service or item you are offering to an NDIS participant, please, give us a call. We are here to help the whole community and if we can educate providers, as well as participants and their communities, we might reduce the amount of anxiety these statements are causing.

We are here to help the whole community and if we can educate providers, as well as participants and their communities, it can only be a positive.