The prices set under the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) are not realistic for the Northern Territory and will not cover the costs of quality care in remote communities, service providers have said.

An independent review of pricing under the NDIS will hear from disability service workers in Darwin today.

The review was commissioned by the National Disability Insurance Agency (NDIA) in response to concerns that some service providers would be unable to afford to keep operating under the current price system.

Northern Territory state manager for National Disability Services Noelene Swanson said providers in the NT were worried.

"The bottom line is that the hourly rate to provide services in the Territory isn't sufficient to do so, at least not to provide services that are of a reasonable quality," she said.

The prices for a person's support under the NDIS are currently set by the NDIA, but will eventually be deregulated.

Nadia Lindop is the chief executive officer of the Machado-Joseph Disease Foundation, which supports Indigenous people living with the debilitating neuro-degenerative disease throughout north-east Arnhem Land.

Ms Lindop said that vast distances, expensive transport, staff housing shortages and language and cultural requirements created significant overhead costs for remote service providers.

"The harsh reality is it just costs so much more to provide those services," she said.

"The costs for us to provide one hour of service for our clients is anywhere between $90 and $130, which includes all of our lean overheads.

"But the NDIS for most of the services is offering between $40 and $92 per hour.

"What that means is if we deliver those services, we need to come up with the gap of what it actually costs us to provide that one hour of service."

Ms Lindop said working respectfully across cultures was an integral part of the foundation's approach and necessarily involved additional time and costs.

"We have a strong model where we partner a health professional with an Aboriginal community worker, that is the way that we engage with our clients," she said.

"That means we're doubling the number of hours on any one engagement but we feel so strongly that it's the best model, and we know that our clients trust us because of that, we have good relationships."

Review to consider provider concerns

A spokesperson for the NDIA said the agency recognised the additional challenges of delivering services in remote areas and providers' concerns.

It said the independent pricing review was implemented in response to those concerns and was expected to be completed by December.

It also pointed to the price loadings applied to remote and very remote areas, which were increased from 2 per cent to 20 per cent in remote areas, and 25 per cent higher in very remote areas at the start of this financial year.

But Ms Swanson said the loadings were not sufficient to cover remote expenses in the first place and the increases had made little difference.

She said she hoped the review recognised the circumstances of service delivery in the Territory and it led to the creation of an independent commission setting the prices.

"At the moment the prices are set within NDIA itself and there's a bit of a conflict there. You've got the people setting the prices trying to control the prices as well."