Australia's disability services sector could be hurtling toward "market failure", with a major employer handed a $15 million lifeline to stay afloat.
The SA government rescue package spared registered NDIS provider Bedford from entering voluntary administration on Sunday.
The nation's second-largest disability employer has 22 sites across SA and supports more than 1400 people living with a disability.
The $15 million loan has strings attached, including the state taking ownership of a four-hectare site at Clapham in Adelaide's southeast which houses 40 people in supported accommodation.
The chief executive of peak body National Disability Services said the package would provide time for an orderly transition but wasn't a viable option to keep repeating.
"There comes a point where there are too many failures," Michael Perusco told AAP on Monday.
"If quality providers are not part of the scheme, then people with disability are going to get less effective support."
Mr Perusco wouldn't "name names" but said he had phone calls last week with five other disability service providers that were "teetering on the edge" and closely managing their cash flow.
The "dominoes" were starting to drop towards market failure, he said.
"We're now starting to see it and it will only continue over the next 12 months."
Mr Perusco disputed a suggestion from NDIS Minister Mark Butler that Bedford was solely to blame for its "parlous financial position".
The chief executive said the National Disability Insurance Agency's "one-size-fits-all" pricing was resulting in providers that support people with complex needs making losses.
"That's the challenge that Bedford faced," Mr Perusco said.
"The financial risk for these organisations is immense - you take one wrong step and the house of cards falls down."
Financial challenges were cited for major aged and disability care service Annecto's decision to close at the end of July after more than 70 years.
The charity's thousands of clients in Victoria, NSW, Queensland and the ACT are being transitioned to other providers.
Mr Butler, who represents the Adelaide seat of Hindmarsh, said disability service organisations were talking to the federal government about the "nature of funding".
"That's a legitimate discussion that I'm having with a number of those very big providers," he told Adelaide radio station 5AA on Friday.
"But that doesn't explain the position Bedford's got itself into.
"It does seem clear that they have tried to diversify their financial position, and it's not come off."
He applauded the SA government's intervention on Sunday and noted Bedford continues to receive "substantial" federal funding.
SA Premier Peter Malinauskas said he wasn't prepared to accept hundreds of vulnerable people having their worlds "turned upside down" but warned success was not guaranteed.
Bedford chief executive Myron Mann has stepped down but Janet Miller remains chair.
