NDIS to slash fees for key health workers to curb costs
Key National Disability Insurance Scheme health workers such as physiotherapists, dietitians and podiatrists will have their payments slashed in the new financial year as the agency that runs the $48.8 billion scheme seeks to bring down its costs.
The National Disability Insurance Agency says a review of more than 10 million transactions found that many pricing limits for NDIS therapies were out of step with broader market rates. In some cases, NDIS providers were charging fees that were 68 per cent higher.
The agency confirmed on Wednesday that the maximum hourly rate for NDIS physiotherapists would be cut by $10 from July 1, resulting in a new national cap of $183.99 an hour.
Similarly, dieticians and podiatrists will have their maximum hourly rates slashed by $5 in the new financial year, resulting in a new national cap of $188.99 for both professions.
'Inflated therapy price points – initially established to support market development in some states and territories in 2019, do not have conclusive evidence to continue,' the NDIA said in a statement.
'Data confirms that people with disability have been paying 'NDIS premiums' for certain therapies. As a result, a number of price points have been adjusted to align with non-NDIS market rates.
'These pricing adjustments are a big step towards further safeguarding participants to ensure they are charged the same as anyone else.'
While some professions have had their maximum NDIS rates cut as part of this year's annual pricing review, disability support workers will have their price limit lifted by 3.95 per cent to reflect the recent increase to the minimum wage.
Introduced in 2013 by the Gillard government, the NDIS today supports up to 700,000 Australians with a disability and contributes to some 500,000 jobs.
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The update came as Cochlear launched its latest implant in Australia, the first of its kind with upgradeable firmware and internal memory. Investors opted to take the good news over the bad, sending Cochlear shares 0.4 per cent higher to $271.65 after dipping more than nine per cent at the market's open. Jenny Young, one of the first to try the new device, was in her late 40s when her audiologist told her she would need hearing aids. Phone conversations were hard, she needed friends and family to repeat themselves and the country music shows she loved had become muffled and unclear. "I just gave up because I didn't know what song was coming on," Ms Young, now 58, told AAP. She initially ignored her audiologist's advice until life became too difficult. "Sometimes you felt excluded, and you tended to exclude yourself because you weren't quite sure what was said, and you didn't want to pop in and embarrass yourself," Ms Young said. 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Cochlear has provided more than 750,000 hearing implants to people around the world over four decades, and helped children born deaf to hear for the first time. When Ms Young first had the implant, she said interpreting the signals was like learning a new language. "To me it sounded like a lot of magpies talking all at once in my head," she said. But with time and a little patience from friends and family, she was soon back where she wanted to be. "Six weeks after I got my implant, I went to the Deni Ute Muster in the front row and watched my country music," she said. "It has given me back my social aspect, my confidence ... It's just given me a new lease for life." She urged anyone noticing changes in their hearing to get checked. "I just want to suggest anybody that has trouble hearing or think they're having a difficulty - get onto it," she said. "Don't sit back like I did."
