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Fees & Rebates

There are a number of government funding initiatives to support children with autism spectrum disorders, including:

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Medicare Benefit Schemes:

Chronic Disease Management (CDM) program – formerly known as Enhanced Primary Care (EPC)

All therapists at Spectrum Speech Pathology are happy to work with your General Practitioner to provide therapy under a CDM plan. The Chronic Disease Management 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 CDM because an Autism Spectrum Disorder is a chronic condition.

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

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

For more information about the CDM program you can download the following Information Sheets from Medicare and Speech Pathology Australia or speak to your General Practitioner.

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 Paediatrician.
The paediatrician 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 provided the diagnosis has been made before the child’s thirteenth birthday.

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

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Spectrum Speech Pathology is able to offer therapy services, both group and individual, to our clients who are NDIS registered.

To access services from Spectrum 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

To determine if your child is eligible, you will need to complete an ‘Access Checklist’.

You can also visit www.amaze.org.au to find out more about the financial support and funding available.

Call the NDIS helpline 1800 800 110 for more information or visit the www.ndis.gov.au

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