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Social Security Act 2018

Administration - Notices and communications, services, and preferred suppliers - Goods or services, for beneficiaries or others, supplied by preferred suppliers

370: Preferred suppliers: paying them disability allowance: exception if allowance granted at maximum rate

You could also call this:

“Special rule for using the highest disability allowance: choosing your own suppliers”

When you get a disability allowance at the highest amount possible, there’s a special rule about how you can use it. Usually, the government pays this money directly to the people who give you the things or help you need. But in some cases, they might decide to give the money to you instead.

If this happens, you can only use the money to buy the specific things or services that your disability allowance is meant for. You get to choose what to buy, but it has to be from the list of things your allowance covers.

Sometimes, the government has special deals with certain shops or service providers. If you choose to buy from one of these preferred suppliers, you have to pay the price that the government has agreed with them.

This rule helps make sure you get what you need while also giving you some choice in how you use your disability allowance.

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View the original legislation for this page at https://legislation.govt.nz/act/public/1986/0120/latest/link.aspx?id=DLM6783879.

Topics:
Health and wellbeing > Healthcare services
Money and consumer rights > Consumer protection
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369: Preferred suppliers: paying them disability allowance: exception if total benefit payments less than amount required, or

“Paying suppliers when there's not enough money in your disability allowance”

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371: Preferred suppliers: no appeal lies against MSD decisions, or

“You can't appeal MSD's decisions about preferred suppliers in the usual way”

Part 6 Administration
Notices and communications, services, and preferred suppliers: Goods or services, for beneficiaries or others, supplied by preferred suppliers

370Preferred suppliers: paying them disability allowance: exception if allowance granted at maximum rate

  1. This section applies if the disability allowance granted to the person to whom section 368(4)(a) applies is granted at the maximum appropriate rate specified in Part 9 of Schedule 4.

  2. MSD may determine in writing that, despite section 368(2),—

  3. all, or the specified part, of the disability allowance that is granted under section 85 in respect of the supply of the goods or services must be paid to the person for use only to purchase any 1 or more of the goods or services that the person chooses and that are goods or services in respect of the supply of which the disability allowance is granted; and
    1. if the goods or services that the person chooses and purchases under paragraph (a) are goods or services supplied by the nominated preferred supplier under the preferred supply contract, the person must purchase them from that supplier at the price determined by that contract.

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