When does the NDIS fund meal preparation and delivery services?
Your disability might mean you can’t independently shop, cook or clean up after preparing your meal. The NDIS may fund the cost of a Support Worker to help you shop for your food, prepare your meals and to clean up afterwards.
Your disability might mean you have trouble planning your meals or following multi-step instructions. If you can re-heat your meals, the NDIS may fund a Support Worker to help you shop for food and pre-prepare some meals for the week.
The NDIS may also pay for delivery of pre-prepared ingredients (fresh or frozen prepared meals).
The NDIS will look at your individual situation to decide whether it’s reasonable and necessary to provide this funding.
To work out whether the cost of paying someone to help with meal preparation is reasonable and necessary, the NDIS will look at the information you give them against the NDIS funding criteria.
Your core supports are flexible and you may decide to use that funding to pay for the preparation and delivery of pre-prepared meals in certain circumstances, however you are only able to use your core support funding flexibly for meal preparation if this is specified in your plan.
What costs are covered when using a meal preparation and delivery service?
The NDIS will cover the cost of preparing a meal and having it delivered to you. It won’t cover the cost of the ingredients used to make the meal, because the NDIS classifies these as ‘everyday expenses’.
Rather than list the exact price of ingredients included in a dish, service providers use a standard formula for all their meals. This breaks down how much of the total cost is for preparation and delivery and how much is for the ingredients. While this varies between providers, it generally works out that about 70% of the price of the meal can be paid for using your NDIS funds, while you will have to pay 30% out of your own pocket. Many providers call this “co-pay” or a “co-payment.”
Need more help?
If you need further help to understand meal preparation, your Support Coordinator can assist you to look at the options.
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