Home care choices near Borough Hall for Kew Gardens families

Kew Gardens sits around Queens Borough Hall and the county courthouses, so residents tend to assume that government business, including Medicaid, happens on Queens Boulevard. It does not. Medicaid is a citywide HRA program, and the Consumer Directed Personal Assistance Program (CDPAP) runs through a single statewide fiscal intermediary. What Kew Gardens does have is a lot of older residents in the co-ops and pre-war buildings along Lefferts Boulevard and Metropolitan Avenue, many of them on fixed incomes just above the Medicaid line, which is why the surplus income question comes up here as often as the "who can be my aide" question.

The neighborhood is mixed. Russian- and Hebrew-speaking households, South Asian families, and long-time English-speaking residents share the same blocks. Every public line on this page offers an interpreter if you ask, and the statewide fiscal intermediary reports support in more than 300 languages.

Kew Gardens uses ZIP 11415, approximate; verify with USPS. Edges near Richmond Hill and Briarwood may carry a neighboring ZIP. The county for any form is "Queens."

• NY Connects: 1-800-342-9871 (Relay 7-1-1). Statewide long-term services information; call here first if the person is not yet on Medicaid.
• HIICAP: 1-800-701-0501. Say "Queens" when the recording asks for your county. NYC Aging Connect at 212-244-6469 can also connect you to a HIICAP counselor.
• Nearest NYC Aging in-person counseling site: India Home, 178-36 Wexford Terrace, 2nd Floor, Room STU 2C, Jamaica, NY 11432, 917-288-7600, Monday through Friday 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., by appointment. From Kew Gardens take the E or F toward Jamaica, or the Q10 or Q60 bus. Call Aging Connect first; sites and hours change.

Borough Hall and the courthouse handle borough and court business, not Medicaid cases. For Medicaid eligibility, renewals, or a surplus income budget, call the HRA Medicaid Helpline at 1-888-692-6116. 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 authorizations, with New York Medicaid Choice at 1-800-505-5678 (TTY 1-888-329-1541) for plan questions. Office addresses are on nyc.gov/hra.

1. Medicaid is active, or the excess income question is resolved first (see 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; people already authorized 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, separate from agency personal care, so ask for it by name.
3. The consumer picks the personal assistant. The Department of Health excludes the spouse, the designated representative, and the parent of a consumer under 21. An adult child, an in-law, or another relative generally may serve.
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 in-office appointment. The DOH consumer resources sheet lists a Forest Hills office, one stop up Queens Boulevard. Check health.ny.gov/cdpap for current options.
5. The assistant completes the required pre-service health assessment and begins logging time through PPL's systems, with the consumer approving each period.

If the person's monthly income is above the Medicaid limit, HRA may open the case with an excess income amount, sometimes called a spend-down or surplus. The Department of Health describes two educational paths: meeting the surplus each month with medical bills or the pay-in option, or, for a person certified disabled at any age, depositing the surplus into a pooled income trust run by a non-profit so that income is not counted. This site names no trust and takes no side; it explains the mechanics so you can ask HRA and a counselor the right questions.

• Walking into Borough Hall with a Medicaid notice. It is the wrong building; the fix is a phone call to HRA, and for a cut in hours, a call to ICAN within 10 days.
• Assuming that a widow living alone on a pension "makes too much" and stopping there. Excess income and pooled trust rules exist precisely for that situation; ask HRA about the surplus budget before giving up.
• Letting a Russian-speaking parent designate an adult child as the "representative" on paper and then trying to hire that same child as the assistant. Under the state's rules the designated representative cannot be the personal assistant. Decide which role the child will hold before signing anything.

Plan 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.

Queens Borough Hall on Queens Boulevard and NYC Health + Hospitals / Queens in Jamaica Hills are the two landmarks residents use to give directions. Orientation only.