The feasibility of moving NDIS participants from hospital into housing within 30 days is set to be examined, as the minister in charge of the scheme vows to help clear the "bed block" plaguing state and territory health systems.
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But Bill Shorten wants the states and territories to step up their spending on education and community mental health in return for the Commonwealth helping them to fix a problem which is costing taxpayers hundreds of millions of dollars and clogging up much-needed hospital beds.
Mr Shorten made the comments on Wednesday as he announced the scheme's latest annual price review, which will see the price limit for NDIS services delivered by support workers increase by 9 per cent from July 1.
He said the decision would mean a pay rise for the nation's roughly 270,000 disability support workers.
Participant budgets will be automatically increased to reflect the changes.
The new price limit had been factored into the cost projections for the scheme, meaning it won't add further pressure to the budget bottom line.
Mr Shorten has revealed spending on the scheme could fall "in the order of hundreds of millions of dollars" short of the $29.3 billion forecast in the March budget.
The new minister suggested the "modest improvement" was the result of participants being unable to spend the expected amount because of COVID-19.
He also announced that up to $514 million would be made available to providers who support participants with daily living and community activities.
An audit system will be set up to stamp out any fraud or rorting of the payments.
Mr Shorten last week held his first meeting with his state and territory counterparts since being sworn into the role after Labor's election win.
The ministers agreed to develop a strategy to speed up discharge rates for the estimated 1100 NDIS participants who are stuck in hospital, despite being medically fit to leave.
Bureaucratic hold ups and a lack of suitable housing for participants to move into has been blamed for causing the problem.
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Mr Shorten said he was "appalled" at the delays, saying it wasn't fair on the patient or the health system.
He wouldn't be drawn on a firm timeframe for getting all of the patients into housing.
However, he tasked the National Disability Insurance Agency with finding solutions to the problem.
Mr Shorten has asked his agency to explain why it wouldn't be possible to have a patient visited in hospital within four days, and have them moved into transitional housing within 30 days.
"Maybe those timelines are not feasible ... but I've asked the agency to tell me why we couldn't do it in that timeline," he said.
"If there's good reasons, well, then we'll just have to work out the knots and the kinks in the system.
"But I think that this is how we make the NDIS work."
Mr Shorten said he's asked each of his state and territory counterparts to prepare a list of patients in their hospitals who might eligible for the NDIS, ahead of a meeting next month.
He plans to hold monthly face-to-face meetings with the ministers.