Questions and answers about Better Start

Thank you to the Better Start team at the Department of Families, Housing, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs (FaHCSIA) for answering some of the questions parents have asked about the Better Start initiative for children with a hearing impairment.

• General questions
• Questions about case management
• Questions about providers/early intervention programs
• Questions about complaints

Families of eligible deaf and hearing impaired children will be able to access the Better Start early intervention funding from 1 July 2011 by contacting the Registration and Information Service and registering their child.

The Registration and Information Service (RIS) will be managed by Carers Australia.  Information on how to go about registering an eligible child, including the documents that parents will need to provide will be available on the FaHCSIA website and on the Carers Australia website towards the end of June 2011.

The RIS will check a child’s eligibility for the early intervention funding, will register each eligible child on the FaHCSIA Online Funding Management System (FOFMS) and provide families with information about service providers from whom they will be seek early intervention using their Better Start funding.  Carers Australia will also offer information about other support and assistance to which eligible children and their families may be entitled.

Families will be able to select from any service provider who is on the Better Start Early Intervention Service Provider Panel.  Informed choice is important to families and to this end there are a number of existing organisations in the hearing impaired field that would offer assistance to families to help them decide which early interventions may be best for their child.  Advice for parents and carers about the types of interventions that might be of most benefit for their hearing impaired children can be provided by a child’s treating doctor, a child’s existing therapists and others, including community based not-for-profit organisations. 

The RIS will not be advising families about which early intervention services, programs or service providers they should be accessing, although it will provide parents with information about the range of early intervention and other services that are available.  The RIS will not be providing case management for families as this is not part of its role. 

Families with a child who may be eligible for Better Start can get information immediately by going to the FaHCSIA website.  Families can also phone the Helpline on 1800 989 553.  The FaHCSIA website is updated regularly and includes a downloadable fact sheet for parents and carers.

General

I have received no information and don’t know how it will work for me.
Information about Better Start is available on the FaHCSIA website. Information is also available by phoning the Helpline on 1800 989 553 during business hours. How it will work for a particualr child will depend entirely on the child's age, needs and circumstances. if a parent has a specific question that cannot be answered by the website or the Helpline, they can email their question to the Better Start team in FaHCSIA: better.start@fahcsia.gov.au

What happens if the early intervention funding is all used up before a child starts school?
Eligible children who have used up their full entitlement of $12,000 in early intervention funding will be able to access the new Medicare items up to the age of 15. Information about the new Medicare items is available on the FaHCSIA website.

Our service accesses state government funding, and Medicare funding, but I'm sure that they will also claim under Better Start as well.
State Government disability services are will not be eligible to join the Better Start panel.  Medicare funding can only be accessed if the relevant provider has a Medicare provider number.  Medicare funding and the allocation of provider numbers is managed by the Department of Health and Ageing.  Services provided and claimed for under Better Start cannot also be claimed for through Medicare.  Parents must sign a Better Start consent form for each session of service that is delivered.

Will there be any restrictions placed on how we can spend the $6K each financial year? I hope they will not be like [private health insurance scheme]....you get a big yearly entitlement but you can only claim back peanuts from each visit! 
Better Start is not a health insurance scheme. It is designed to offer parents greater choice and flexibility in accessing early intervention service providers.  When eligible children receive services from providers on the Better Start panel, they can use their Better Start funding to pay for those services entirely (i.e. there will be no ‘gap’ payment).  The only restriction is the $6,000 limit that applied in each financial year. 

Are we allowed to claim from both our private health insurance and Better Start for these additional services? 
Yes, as long as the provider is one of the eligible allied health professionals included under Better Start, is willing to do this and doesn’t claim for more for the service than the difference between the overall cost and your health insurance rebate.

Will families still have access to EPC [Enhanced Primary Care] funding or will Better Start replace that?
Eligible children will be able to access to both the EPC items (now referred to as Chronic Disease Management items) and the new Better Start Medicare items.

I need to be assured that I will not be receiving less support than I currently receive for my son’s development.
It is highly unlikely that a child who is eligible for Better Start will receive less support. Registration for this initiative is entirely voluntary. If parents are happy with the services currently being delivered to their child and don’t feel that they need access to other options, there is no need to register for Better Start.

Will there be more administration [work] for me?
Apart from contacting the Registration and Information Service and providing the necessary documentation to allow registration of your child, there is very little for parents to do in terms of paper work.  Parents are however, advised to keep track of the early intervention services that their child receives and the cost per session.

What happens if you have a 4 year old?  Are you able to use the full $12,000 in the two years you have left before they start school (while they still use early intervention services) or will there be restriction placed on this?  Can I use $6000 in the next 9 months or so for [my child]?
The only restriction on the use of the funding is that you cannot use more than the maximum limit of $6,000 in any one financial year.  If a child is registered at age 4, they will have up to two years to use the $12,000.  You could potentially use $6,000 over 9 months provided the expenditure occurred in the one financial year.

Case management

I need independent, unbiased information about how I use my Better Start funding.
We understand that access to independent and unbiased information is important to parents. That’s why the Registration and Information Service will be delivered by Carers Australia, which is not an early intervention service provider.

Will I be able to access two early intervention services through Better Start? What are the limitations?
Yes.  The only limitation on the number of Better Start service providers who might be used is the $6,000 funding limit that applies in any one financial year.

I need to know exactly how I can go about using the services that I currently use without being out of pocket.
If the service providers you currently use apply to join the Better Start panel, and you continue to access their services using your Better Start early intervention funding, there will be no out of pocket costs.

Providers/Early intervention programs

Will committing it to a provider reduce our opportunity to change provider?
No.  Parents will be able to change providers.

Will providers have different fees for those who use Better Start funding and those who don't?
All service providers who join the Better Start panel have to submit a fee schedule for the eligible interventions they offer. These fee schedules are published on the FaHCSIA website and will also be published on the Carers Australia website. 

I am quite concerned about costs increasing, and parents being worse off than before. I think a lot of parents don't know about the program, and so when told about it by service providers, there may be some bias in the information and parents may inadvertently use their allocated funding without realising that they have a greater choice in the matter. 
The Registration and Information Service will play an important role by making sure that parents of eligible children understand what the Better Start initiative offers, including that they will be able to choose to access services from any of the service providers on the panel.  As the RIS is not an early intervention service provider, it is highly unlikely that the information offered to parents will be biased.

I need to know what is legally allowable and not be pressured by an early intervention service to sign up to them.
Parents who feel that they are being unduly pressured should avoid signing up to an arrangement.  At the least they should discuss their options with a disability specific advocacy or advice agency or with the child’s treating doctor. 

Complaints procedure

I wonder if there is any complaints mechanism. For example, if a panel provider won't approve the purchase of an item that a parent requests. With a child with hearing impairment who has no other disabilities, they may only have one provider, so it may be difficult to get approval if the provider disagrees with them about the necessity of an item.
Better Start service providers must have a complaints mechanism.  FaHCSIA also has a complaints mechanism for all programs it administers.  Please note that the purchase of resources must be supported by the relevant therapist and the resource itself must support the continued delivery of interventions that have been received by the child.  Conceivably there may be instances where a request from a parent for a particular item might reasonably be refused by the child’s therapist.

Updated: August 2011