Spouses, children, and CDPAP rules for Bayside homeowners

Bayside is one of the oldest-skewing neighborhoods in Queens: long-time homeowners in Bay Terrace, Oakland Gardens, and the blocks off Bell Boulevard, many of them couples in their late seventies and eighties who have done everything together. That is why the first CDPAP question in Bayside is almost always "can my husband be my aide?" and the answer, per the New York State Department of Health, is no. A spouse cannot be the paid personal assistant. An adult son or daughter, a daughter-in-law, a grandchild, or a friend generally can. This page explains that rule, the difference between CDPAP and agency care, and the surplus income issue that follows many Bayside homeowners into the Medicaid application.

Bayside has large Korean- and Chinese-speaking communities alongside long-established Italian, Irish, and Greek families. Interpreters are available on every public line on this page, and the statewide fiscal intermediary reports support in more than 300 languages.

ZIP 11360 covers Bay Terrace and the north, 11361 the center around Bell Boulevard and the LIRR station, and 11364 Oakland Gardens to the south. All approximate; verify with USPS. The county on any form is "Queens."

• NY Connects: 1-800-342-9871 (Relay 7-1-1). Statewide long-term services information, including options for a couple where neither is on Medicaid yet.
• HIICAP: 1-800-701-0501. Free Medicare counseling; say "Queens" when the recording asks for your county. NYC Aging Connect at 212-244-6469 can also schedule a counselor.
• Bayside has no NYC Aging counseling site of its own. The nearest on the citywide listing are India Home in Jamaica (178-36 Wexford Terrace, 917-288-7600, Monday through Friday 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., by appointment; Q27 or Q31 bus toward Jamaica) and RAICES / Corona Senior Center (102-47 43rd Avenue, 718-458-7259, Monday through Friday 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m., by appointment; Q12 or Q13 to Flushing then the 7). Call Aging Connect first; sites and hours change.

There is no Bayside Medicaid office. HRA runs Medicaid citywide: the HRA Medicaid Helpline is 1-888-692-6116 for eligibility, renewals, and surplus income budgets. Fee-for-service personal care and CDPAP cases go through HRA's Home Care Services Program at the DSS OneNumber, 718-557-1399. Managed Long Term Care members work with their plan on hours, and New York Medicaid Choice at 1-800-505-5678 (TTY 1-888-329-1541) handles plan questions. Office locations are listed on nyc.gov/hra.

1. Medicaid is active for the spouse who needs care, which for many Bayside households means first resolving excess income (below), and a home care assessment finds a need. New assessments of people 21 and older since September 1, 2025 apply the state's Minimum Needs Requirements; those already receiving services continue under prior criteria, per the Department of Health.
2. The plan or HRA issues an authorization. CDPAP usually needs its own authorization and person-centered service plan, so ask for CDPAP rather than accepting an agency aide and switching later.
3. The consumer chooses a personal assistant who is not the spouse, not the designated representative, and not the parent of a consumer under 21. In practice that is usually an adult child or in-law who lives nearby.
4. Consumer and assistant register with Public Partnerships LLC (PPL), the statewide fiscal intermediary designated by the Department of Health: 1-833-247-5346, TTY 1-833-204-9042, online through PPL@Home, through a facilitator, or by appointment (the DOH consumer resources sheet lists a Forest Hills office). Check health.ny.gov/cdpap for current options.
5. The assistant completes the state-required health assessment before service, then records time through PPL's systems; the consumer approves it. The spouse can still help every day; the program simply cannot pay them.

A retired couple's combined Social Security and pension income often exceeds the Medicaid limit. The Department of Health's excess income program allows Medicaid, including home care, when the monthly surplus is met with medical bills or the pay-in option. For a person certified disabled, surplus income deposited into a pooled income trust run by a non-profit is not counted once HRA has the trust documents and a written monthly deposit statement. No trust is named or preferred on this site.

• Planning the whole application around the wife being paid to care for her husband. The spouse exclusion is fixed in the Department of Health's program rules; build the plan around an adult child or another relative from the start.
• Assuming the Bell Boulevard LIRR station means Bayside is in Nassau. It is Queens County; writing "Nassau" on a Medicaid form sends the case to the wrong agency.
• Waiting for the adult child in Great Neck or Manhasset to "handle it" after a notice reduces hours. Aid continuing usually requires an appeal within 10 days of the notice date, whoever makes the call.

Managed Long Term Care members appeal to the plan first, within 10 days of the notice date or effective date to keep hours unchanged; after a final adverse determination there are 120 days to request a fair hearing but 10 days to keep aid continuing. Fee-for-service cases request a fair hearing through OTDA at otda.ny.gov/hearings (online, phone, fax, or mail; current channels on that page), generally within 60 days, with aid to continue if requested before the effective date or within 10 days of mailing. ICAN is free: 1-844-614-8800, TTY 711.

NewYork-Presbyterian Queens on Main Street and Flushing Hospital Medical Center on Parsons Boulevard are the hospitals most Bayside residents name; both are in Flushing, west along Northern Boulevard. Orientation only.