Vance
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A few years ago Vance was riding his bike to work when he was hit by a car. The accident left him with quadriplegia and needing ‘high‐level care’ for several hours a day.
Despite limitations on his mobility and activities, he has been able to continue working full time due to ‘substantial modifications’ made to his work duties and the workplace.
Vance works as a medical professional, but he told the Royal Commission it was his accident that taught him a ‘great deal about living with a disability’.
One of the things he learnt ‘is the seemingly inflated cost of many of the physical and mechanical supports disabled people need’.
Vance suspects the costs are ‘artificially inflated for disabled people’ because the ‘funders for many of the services are government and insurance agencies’.
He believes this is exploitation.
For example his ‘physiotherapy sessions are $232 for a 90 minute session with transport time on top of this. Occupational therapy is $180 for an hour’.
In comparison, when his own patients privately access the services outside of NDIS or disability insurance providers, the cost ‘appears to be much less’.
He found similar cost discrepancy when building his new home. The various disability services were helpful, but they charged ‘large amounts for the services, sometimes for slow, poor quality work’.
Another concern is the cost of equipment, which seems to be ‘disproportionately expensive’. A ‘thin piece of material with some Velcro that is wrapped around [Vance] as a seatbelt’ costs $120. ‘An exercise bike with functional electoral simulation is $40,000 … [and a] ramp to enter my workplace is $3000,’ Vance told us.
While he appreciates prices are higher when equipment is manufactured in small quantities, Vance believes the disproportionate price difference is wrong.
He said he has seen similar price gouging in his medical work where prices are higher if the government is paying for the service.
He would like more scrutiny and justification of the price of services and items paid for by government as opposed to privately.
Disclaimer: This is the story of a person who shared their personal experience with the Royal Commission into Violence, Abuse, Neglect and Exploitation of People with Disability through a submission or private session. The names in this story are pseudonyms. The person who shared this experience was not a witness and their account is not evidence. They did not take an oath or affirmation before providing the story. Nothing in this story constitutes a finding of the Royal Commission. Any views expressed are those of the person who shared their experience, not of the Royal Commission.