How might an individualised funding model impact on alcohol and other drug service users and service provision? Lessons from the Australian National Disability Insurance Scheme

Is health or social welfare the right question? Response to commentaries

“…Whether integrated care that better meets clients’ needs can be achieved through a health‐focussed funding system, a social welfare‐focussed funding system or a client‐as‐fund‐holder system seems unlikely to be resolved any time soon. But perhaps this is not the right kind of question to be asking, as alluded to by MacLean and Anderson in drawing the issues of ‘deservingness’ to our attention. In our original piece we drew a link between the need for coordinated, integrated care on the ground, and the ways governments have shifted purchasing and funding arrangements.…”

“…This could overcome the integrated care problem, as clients choose the care that they need, whether that be more health or social‐welfare‐focussed. MacLean and Anderson take up this thread and provide useful observations about how such a funding system may or may not work in the context of AOD treatment. For example, they point to the opportunity it can provide in empowering clients, but raise issues about the financial viability for service providers.…”