Funding

There are a number of recent government initiatives that enable families with children with Autism Spectrum Disorders to access funding for assessment and therapy.

NDIS FUNDING

To access services from Tanya Boyd Speech Pathology services, you will need to ensure that your NDIS funding is either PLAN MANAGED or SELF MANAGED for speech therapy services.

Please ensure that you speak to your planner about this when you are discussing your Plan.

There is a range of funding options available under DSS (previously FAHCSIA), Medicare and Centrelink and other government services such as Better Start. However many of these are being phased out as the NDIS National Disability Insurance Scheme rolls out across Australia.

To find out more about the NDIS you can visit their website: www.ndis.gov.au

Medicare: Enhanced Primary Care Plan

All therapists at Tanya Boyd Speech Pathology are happy to work with your General Practitioner to provide therapy under an EPC plan. The Enhanced Primary Care scheme is initiated by your General Practitioner and available to children and adults with Chronic Care needs. People with Autism are automatically eligible for the EPC because an Autism Spectrum Disorder is a chronic condition.

The Medicare rebate is available for 5 sessions of Allied Health therapy, including Speech Pathology, per calendar year.

Please note that EPC plans are ONLY allowed to be used for Individual Therapy sessions. The EPC Plan does NOT allow for Group Therapy sessions, including Social Skills Groups, to be claimed by Medicare.

For more information about the EPC program please download the following Information Sheets from Autism Victoria and Speech Pathology Australia or speak to your General Practitioner.

Medicare: Helping Children With Autism Medicare Rebates

In July 2008 the Federal Government introduced the Helping Children With Autism Initiative. Under this initiative, it is now possible for families to claim rebates from Medicare for Assessment and Treatment for Children with Autism Spectrum Disorders, providing a referral has been made by a Pediatrician.

The pediatrician can allocate up to 4 sessions for assessment for which rebates are available up until the child turns 13 years of age.
For children with a diagnosis of Autism Spectrum Disorder, a total of 20 therapy sessions can be allocated, including Speech Pathology, until the child turns 15 years of age.

For further information on these schemes, links to the following website Information Sheets will be helpful:

Speech Pathology Australia
Autism Victoria
Medicare Australia

Private Health Insurance

If you have private health insurance and have taken out ‘extras’ you may be eligible for a rebate. It is our understanding that you are not able to use both medicare and private health rebates for the same session. You may wish to check with your health fund and compare the amount of the private health rebate you would receive with that provided by Medicare under the initiatives listed above