Kew Gardens: home care paths near Queens Borough Hall

Kew Gardens sits around the civic center of Queens: Borough Hall, the courthouse, and the Kew Gardens Interchange where the Van Wyck and Grand Central meet. Because of that, residents sometimes assume a "Queens Medicaid office" or a "Queens home care office" must be nearby. There is no such office. The programs that matter are citywide (HRA) and statewide (NYIA and New York Medicaid Choice), and the government buildings on Queens Boulevard are not part of the process. The neighborhood's older population lives largely in the prewar apartment buildings near Lefferts Boulevard and along Metropolitan Avenue, and a fair number of households speak Russian, Hebrew, or Spanish.

ZIP 11415 (approximate; verify with USPS). The edges toward Richmond Hill and Briarwood carry other ZIPs. County: Queens.

NY Connects, 1-800-342-9871 (Relay 7-1-1); say "Queens." HIICAP, 1-800-701-0501, for free Medicare counseling; say "Queens." The nearest in-person NYC Aging HIICAP site is India Home on Wexford Terrace in Jamaica (917-288-7600, by appointment), reachable on the E or F from Kew Gardens–Union Turnpike or by bus along Hillside Avenue.

Medicaid for Kew Gardens is HRA, citywide, 1-888-692-6116. Adults 65 and older, people with disabilities, and people on Medicare apply through HRA rather than the marketplace. Borough Hall does not take Medicaid applications. HRA's actual office locations are on nyc.gov/hra.

1. Medicaid active. NYIA will ask for the Medicaid number first.
2. Call NYIA at 1-855-222-8350 (TTY 1-888-329-1541). The Department of Health's program page describes the assessor as a state contractor that conducts the community health assessment and the clinical exam through its own nurses and clinicians, independent of any plan or agency.
3. Nurse assessment, then clinical appointment, in person or by video. A relative may sit in.
4. Outcome notice. The Department of Health's page also notes that the community health assessment can stay valid for up to twelve months, with reassessment sooner if a person's condition changes or they request it.
5. New York Medicaid Choice (1-800-505-5678, long term care 1-888-401-6582) for MLTC plan selection when the notice points there. That is usually the route for adults 21 and older with both Medicare and Medicaid who need more than 120 days of community-based services.
6. Plan visit, care plan, and services. The number of hours is set by the plan, not by the assessor and not by this site.

• Going to Borough Hall or the courthouse to "file for home care." Nothing about Medicaid home care is filed in person at a civic building in Kew Gardens. The steps are phone calls and home visits.
• Confusing the Van Wyck hospital's outpatient clinics with the assessor. Jamaica Hospital Medical Center's clinics can provide records and a doctor's input; the assessment itself is done by NYIA's independent clinicians.
• Assuming a parent in a prewar building without Medicaid must spend down first. For residents 60 and older who are not on Medicaid, NYC Aging's in-home services program through Aging Connect (212-244-6469) is contribution-based and separate from Medicaid entirely.

Orientation only: Queens Borough Hall on Queens Boulevard, useful for directions and nothing else in this process, and Jamaica Hospital Medical Center near the Van Wyck Expressway.