Forest Hills, CDPAP, and the fiscal intermediary down the street

Forest Hills has one thing no other Queens neighborhood on this site has: the Department of Health's consumer resources packet lists a Forest Hills location among the statewide fiscal intermediary's in-office appointment sites. That makes it one of the easier places in the city to sit down with someone and finish CDPAP registration in person. It does not change any rule. Whether an aide from an agency or a paid relative is the better fit, who is allowed to be the assistant, and how a cut in hours gets appealed are the same on Austin Street as anywhere in New York. Forest Hills households speak Russian, Hebrew, Chinese, Spanish, and English in large numbers; the public lines and the intermediary all offer interpreters.

ZIP 11375 covers most of Forest Hills (approximate; verify with USPS), from the co-ops near Queens Boulevard through the Gardens and Cord Meyer up toward the Grand Central Parkway. The county is Queens, even though the Long Island Rail Road runs through the middle of the neighborhood.

• NY Connects: 1-800-342-9871 (Relay 7-1-1).
• HIICAP: 1-800-701-0501; say "Queens" when the recording asks for your county. NYC Aging Connect at 212-244-6469 can also book a HIICAP counselor.
• Nearest NYC Aging in-person sites: India Home, 178-36 Wexford Terrace, 2nd Floor, Room STU 2C, Jamaica, NY 11432, 917-288-7600, Monday to Friday 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. (F train to 169th Street or the Q60 on Queens Boulevard), or RAICES / Corona Senior Center, 102-47 43rd Avenue, Corona, 718-458-7259. Both by appointment; call Aging Connect first, because sites change.

Forest Hills Medicaid is HRA, citywide: HRA Medicaid Helpline 1-888-692-6116 for eligibility and renewals; DSS OneNumber 718-557-1399 for HRA's Home Care Services Program if the person is not in a managed care plan. If the person is in a Managed Long Term Care plan, the plan authorizes hours; New York Medicaid Choice (1-800-505-5678, TTY 1-888-329-1541) handles plan enrollment questions. Office locations are on nyc.gov/hra.

1. Medicaid is active and a home care assessment has been done. New assessments of adults 21 and over since September 1, 2025 are subject to the Department of Health's Minimum Needs Requirements; people already receiving services on that date continue under the earlier criteria.
2. The plan or HRA authorizes personal care. If the family is moving from an agency aide to CDPAP, the Department's chart says a new authorization, person-centered service plan, and plan of care are needed first, to avoid a gap.
3. The family picks the assistant within the Department's rule: not the spouse, not the designated representative, not the parent of a consumer under 21. Adult children and in-laws are named as allowed.
4. Consumer and assistant register with Public Partnerships LLC (PPL), the Department-designated statewide fiscal intermediary: 1-833-247-5346, TTY 1-833-204-9042, or online through PPL@Home, or at an in-office appointment. Confirm the current Forest Hills office details on health.ny.gov/cdpap or PPL's site before going.
5. The assistant's health assessment is completed before the first shift, and time is recorded and approved through PPL's systems.

• Writing "Nassau" or leaving the county blank because of the railroad. Forest Hills is Queens County. A wrong county on a Medicaid or fair hearing form delays everything.
• Assuming the aide the agency has been sending can simply "switch over" to CDPAP. The person may be allowed to become a personal assistant, but the Department's chart says the employer changes from the agency to the consumer, and the service needs a fresh authorization first.
• Letting a reduction notice sit in the co-op mailroom. Plan notices about reduced hours carry a 10-day clock for keeping services unchanged while you appeal. Forest Hills buildings with busy mailrooms are where that clock gets missed.

Long Island Jewish Forest Hills on 66th Road is the neighborhood hospital. The 71st Avenue station puts Jamaica and Manhattan counseling sites within reach. Neither decides Medicaid home care.