Forest Hills: the NYIA and MLTC route to Medicaid home care

Forest Hills has two populations that reach this page by different doors. In the co-ops and rental towers between Austin Street and the Grand Central Parkway, older residents with Medicaid are usually asking how to start personal care or join a Managed Long Term Care plan. In the Gardens and Cord Meyer blocks, homeowners past 60 who were never on Medicaid are asking whether any help exists short of paying privately. Both answers run through statewide programs, and both begin with a phone call rather than a visit. Russian, Hebrew, Spanish, and Chinese are common here; every line on this page provides interpreters.

ZIP 11375 covers most of Forest Hills (approximate; verify with USPS). County on all forms: Queens. The Long Island Rail Road station in the middle of the neighborhood confuses some people about the county; it is Queens, not Nassau.

NY Connects, 1-800-342-9871 (Relay 7-1-1), is the statewide door to long-term services and supports for any age and any payer. Say "Queens" when asked. If you are a homeowner without Medicaid trying to understand what NYC Aging's in-home services program would cost, this is the call to make before anything else.

HIICAP is 1-800-701-0501 for free Medicare counseling; say "Queens." The nearest in-person NYC Aging HIICAP sites are India Home on Wexford Terrace in Jamaica (917-288-7600) and the RAICES / Corona Senior Center (718-458-7259), both by appointment. From the 71st Avenue station the E or F reaches Jamaica quickly.

Forest Hills Medicaid is HRA, citywide, at 1-888-692-6116. Adults 65 and older and people on Medicare apply through HRA, not the marketplace. Do not look for a Forest Hills Medicaid office; use nyc.gov/hra for the current Queens locations.

1. Medicaid first. Without an active Medicaid number, NYIA cannot schedule. Households with income above the Medicaid line sometimes work with HRA on a spend-down; this site does not advise on that, and NY Connects can point you to who does.
2. Call NYIA, 1-855-222-8350. The program's FAQ says the call takes place Monday to Friday 8:30 a.m. to 8 p.m. and Saturday 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. You will usually be offered in-person or video.
3. Nurse visit, then clinician visit. The nurse asks about medicines, moving around the home, dressing, bathing, equipment, and who helps. The clinician reviews medical history and may call your doctor.
4. Outcome notice. It states whether you meet the requirements to request personal care or consumer directed services, or to enroll in MLTC.
5. New York Medicaid Choice (1-800-505-5678, long term care 1-888-401-6582) handles MLTC plan selection if that is the route. For most adults 21 and older with both Medicare and Medicaid who need more than 120 days of services, it usually is.
6. Plan visit, then services. The plan builds a person-centered service plan with you. Hours are decided there, not on this page.

• Using a co-op's social worker or NORC program as the scheduler. Forest Hills has several naturally occurring retirement community programs. They can organize your questions, but the NYIA call must come from the person with Medicaid or an authorized representative.
• Naming a representative informally. The NYIA site says it accepts either its own designation form (mailed by New York Medicaid Choice on request) or a copy of a power of attorney or guardianship order. A phone call saying "my daughter handles it" is not either of those.
• Waiting for a Manhattan specialist's office to "send the order." NYIA runs its own clinical appointment with its own clinician. Your specialist's notes help, but the assessment does not wait on them.

Orientation only: Long Island Jewish Forest Hills on 66th Road just off Queens Boulevard is the neighborhood hospital. Its discharge office is where many Forest Hills families first hear the letters NYIA.