u/IAmNotABabyElephant

Hey all, this isn't explicitly NDIS related (it's adjacent) but this sub is the closest thing to a general Australian disability forum, so I was hoping I could ask here. I recently had a reassessment and it was absolutely brutal, funding slashed everywhere, supports denied, bloodbath. One of the things that I'm no longer getting funded was liquid food supplementation (a variety of problems mean solid / 'normal' food isn't really an option for me, long story).

Now, I was going through Brightsky because they offered a discount if you were using NDIS funds to pay for it. Out of my own pocket, my standard order is going to be about $400 more expensive, and honestly I don't know if I can absorb that cost, so I'm looking for hopefully reasonably priced and nutritionally complete liquid food supplementation (not tube / enteral, just a standard bottle or something).

Powders are significantly less preferred as I have much less ability to prepare them, but if I have absolutely no other affordable options I might be able to push through and manage it.

I found a few sites that are a bit cheaper than Brightsky, but I have no idea if they're legitimate retailers and I'm hesitant to spend money on them without at least checking if anyone knows anywhere actually cheap or could

I think these were the cheapest I found (Aims Medical), but they're out of stock. So many sites are out of stock, and them all being out of stock at the same time makes me suspect that they're simply not restocking at all and have basically discontinued selling the product. I am planning to call them to see if they are ever intending to restock, but first I wanted to make this post to check if:

A: anyone can tell me if Aims Medical Group are a reliable supplier or a scam trap, because they are suspiciously cheap and that sends off alarm bells.

B: anyone can point me to a similarly priced or at least not significantly more expensive but confirmed to be reliable supplier instead.

Because naturally pretty much none of these medical supply sites have a sizeable body of information and discussion about them that I can use to research whenever I google them. There's basically no Reddit threads, no review forums (although reviews are so shady these days and often fake), no Facebook pages with extensive real-people-seeming feedback, nada. So I'm throwing a line into dark and mysterious ponds here.

Anyway.

Brightsky's price for one bottle is $5.575.

Aims Medical Group's price for one bottle is $3.16

I found a group called Sumac Medical Supplies and they at least don't explicitly say they're out of stock and their price for one bottle is $3.95

And then there's Tobe Healthcare at $4.00 and they also are one of the rare suppliers that at least don't explicitly say they're out of stock.

Whether either of these two do actually have stock, or whether I'd be making an order and having it arrive in 9 months - I don't know.

Does anyone know any of those companies? Are any of them known to be reliable? Known to be scams? Does anyone know any reliable supplier that can beat those prices? I'm on the DSP and it's already stretched pretty thin, I don't want to gamble on ordering from one of these sites without at least trying to ask people if they're known scams because I really don't have money to waste.

There were lots of suppliers, but over and over again I'd find one and see that little "out of stock" banner and it was an immensely frustrating experience. These are the ones I bookmarked because they're both cheaper enough than Brightsky to make a difference and also not completely out of stock.

I'm just, really hoping that someone can confirm for me which of these are reliable and which (if any) are scam traps, and if I'm really lucky maybe someone will have some supplier I missed that's really cheap and reliable and it'll be a big happy miracle. I dunno.

If you read all this I greatly appreciate you taking the effort, I don't know if anyone will be able to help me, but I figure it's worth a crack, right?

This is the comment that started it. I know I look a little suspicious with my hidden post history - I sent the link to the comment along with my story to the ABC, the 2 Greens Senators from Queensland, Senator Jordon-Steele John, my local Federal MP, and the disability advocacy group 'Disabled People Against Cuts'.

I normally don't trust people with hidden post histories, but after sharing that comment link around, I don't love the idea of any of those groups deciding to take a glance through my profile, so I've got it temporarily hidden. I know, I know, shame be upon me, for I am wielding the tactics of the bots, the trolls, and the agitators. I feel like I have a better excuse though, and I'll set it back to bravely showing my track record of proven human-status and not-trollism in a couple months or so.

Anyway, after seeing that it had happened to someone else, I got it in my head that this might be something more widespread than I initially figured. So I started contacting people. Yesterday, the advocacy group 'Disabled People Against Cuts' got back to me.

According to the conversation with them, which I have attached, this has happened to 'many people' - though I am a bit confused why they then went on to talk about 'primary disabilities', so I'm not 100% sure they understood what I was saying. I don't think I was overly ambiguous though.

It happened to me. It happened to at least one other person based on the response to the comment I linked. According to DPAC - assuming they understood what I was saying - it's happening to many people.

You go in for a reassessment, thinking everything is up to standard, and you get completely blindsided because all your disabilities except one have been inexplicably removed from your records, your funding gets obliterated because you look like you've gone from "high needs" to "low needs", specific things you had funded based on specific disabilities get denied, and you're left in limbo.

I don't know why or how warnings about this haven't gotten out, but if you're planning on a reassessment any time soon, request a list of your disabilities first. It's probably not happening to everyone, and DPAC's response and pivot into talking about primary disabilities is frankly confusing so it's arguable if they actually comprehended properly what I was trying to explain, but if they did understand then it is widespread and happening to many people.

All I know with confidence is that it has absolutely happened to me, and I have no reason to doubt that it happened to the participant who responded to that comment I linked. DPAC's response was ... weird, but I mean, you can read how I explained it to them, I felt that was fairly straightforwardly explained, so I assume they understand what I was saying and they are referring to this particular problem when they say it's happened to 'many' people.

If you don't believe me, if you think I've photoshopped this conversation, ask them. Message DPAC. That's 'Disabled People Against Cuts' on Facebook. Show them this post, ask them if that conversation happened. You don't have to just take my word for it. For some, this will seem entirely in line with the track record of how the NDIA treats us. For others, this may seem like a raving, fantastical claim of grand improbability. So just, ask them if you don't believe me.

Nobody warned me before I went in for a reassessment and I walked blindly into a trap. I hope I can warn people so others can be prepared if this is going to happen to them.

Looking For: Liquid Food Retailer Recommendations From Private Funding (Not Tube)

The NDIA are deleting participants' recorded disabilities without notice, and at the time of reassessment they are denying supports and funding based on the justification that there's no evidence of your disabilities existing