NDIS Plan Management vs Self-Management- Which One Is The Right For You?

As we know, NDIS works for providing support services and funding to people with disabilities in Australia; the best and suitable way to manage the NDIS funds is a topic that needs our attention.

There are two ways to manage the funding provided by NDIS, the first is plan management, and the other is self-management.

During the planning meeting, they ask the NDIS participant if they want to manage their NDIS funding themselves or hire a NDIS plan manager to do the task. However, NDIS also gives you the option to use unregistered providers while choosing self-management or plan management.

Every NDIS participant has to choose between these two plans as per their requirements and suitability. We will first discuss these two plans, in brief, to understand them better.

1. What is self-management?

When you choose self-management, you will have to manage all your NDIS finances by yourself. Self-management means paying for your services and taking care of the funds all by yourself.

This also includes paying your service providers and claiming the funds using the NDIA portal.

When you choose self-management, you are not limited to using only NDIS registered providers. This means you have access to a wider range of services and service providers.

You can employ anyone by keeping track of your budget to not run out of budget.

2. What is Plan Management?

When you choose plan management, you have to hire a professional to manage your NDIS funds. Funding for plan management will be there in your NDIS plan on the top of other budgets.

Plan management providers will pay for your service provider’s invoices and help you in tracking the budgets. They will keep the record of all the invoices and give you a monthly update of your budget.

The NDIS pays for your plan manager, who will pay for all the supports directly.

When you choose NDIS plan management, you are not restricted to using the only NDIS registered providers, just like self-management.

You can use a carer who does not want to go through the process of NDIS registration.

If you want a plan manager to support you, you can ask for a plan manager in your planning meeting.

Now, when we know what NDIS self-management and plan management is, we will discuss the advantages and disadvantages of both of these plans to make it easy for you to decide the one among them.

Let us First Begin With The Advantages of Self-Management.

1. Self-management doesn’t restrict the participants to only NDIS registered providers. They have the freedom and flexibility to hire whoever they want.

2. The participants have the flexibility to spend their funding the way they want to.

3. Participants in rural/urban areas have more provider options available

4. Self-management is not restricted to the NDIS price guide; therefore, the participants can negotiate the rates and spend their funds accordingly.

5. While choosing self-management, the participants can employ their support staff.

Disadvantages of Self-Management.

1. As self-management doesn’t restrict the participants to follow the NDIS price guide, the providers can ask for more than the NDIS rates for their services.

2. The participants will have to keep records and receipts in case of an audit, and therefore, the participants will have more workload.

Advantages of NDIS Plan Management.

1. The benefit of NDIS Plan management is that it is not just restricted to NDIS registered providers, and hence, it gives the participants the freedom to hire whoever they want.

2. When the participant chooses Registered NDIS Plan Management, the plan managers pay for all the supports.

3. The participants need to keep all the invoices and receipts for the audit.

4. A plan manager will help the NDIS participants in getting the best value from the allocated NDIS funds.

5. If you choose the plan management, you don’t need to use the NDIS portal.

Disadvantages of NDIS Plan Management.

1. As plan management gives the flexibility to choose whoever the participants want, it the provider charges more than the NDIS price guide, the participants will have to pay the difference by themselves.

2. Like any service provider, you may engage a plan manager who provides a poor service. In this case, the participants will have to suffer. Therefore, it’s better to know your plan managers before selecting them.

These were the advantages and disadvantages of both the ways of NDIS management. The participants have to choose between these two after making sure what works best for you.

Which is the right choice for you?

The decision to choose the one among these two depends on your situations and needs. If you want to spend your funding your way and don’t mind keeping records and invoices, you can go for self-management. However, self-management can be time-consuming and tiring.

For people who don’t have much time and don’t want to get into managing finances, it is preferable to get in touch with a professional plan management provider to support them. The Benefits of NDIS plan management are many, and it will help the NDIS participants use their funds without any stress.