Australian Minister for Government Services Bill Shorten, who oversees the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS), has said that “bureaucratic glue” is preventing healthy patients from leaving public hospitals.
At present, over 1,400 NDIS participants across Australia are waiting an average of 160 days to be discharged from hospitals.
This results in Australian taxpayers having to pay  at least $2,300 (US$1,600) a day for each stranded patient, which Shorten described as “madness.”
Under the NDIS, the federal government pays for the costs of supporting people with a permanent and significant disability.
The scheme covers many supporting areas, including independence, involvement in the community, education, employment, health and wellbeing….