The National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) has strict laws regarding the supports and services that they will fund. This is to ensure that the funded supports and services reach the right people. The National Disability Insurance Act 2013 defines the NDIS funding criteria and the legislation makes it clear that all the supports and services should meet the ‘reasonable and necessary’ standard before the NDIS can fund them. For a support or service to be considered ‘reasonable and necessary’:
- It must be directly related to the participant’s disability
- It must not include expenses not related to your disability like daily living costs (e.g.: groceries, rent, clothing).
- It should be value for money when you compare the cost and the benefit.
- It must be effective and should help the participant in pursuing their goals and aspirations.
- It should facilitate the social and economic participation of the participants.
- It should be most appropriately funded by the NDIS.
- It should not replace but coordinate with the informal support and the mainstream supports received by the participants.
Each support of the participant must meet the NDIS funding criteria individually and as a package. Plan Guard plan managers strictly adhere to all the rules and regulations laid down by the NDIA and the NDIS Commission. As registered NDIS plan management service providers, we are also responsible for requesting evidence from our participants regarding the ‘reasonable and necessary’ aspect of their supports and services. So, when you sent your invoices to your plan manager, please make sure that the services that you ask for comply with the ‘reasonable and necessary’ guidelines of the NDIS. Participants can find the answers to all their queries regarding ‘reasonable and necessary’ supports on the NDIS website. Please follow the link given below to find out more: https://ourguidelines.ndis.gov.au/how-ndis-supports-work-menu/reasonable-and-necessary-supports. If you are still confused, you can reach out to Plan Guard and we will walk you through the guidelines. Get in touch with us to find out how we can help you.