The Bronx: applying for Medicare cost programs through HRA and getting free counseling

The Bronx is the one borough where the county name is the borough name, so that part of the paperwork is easy. The harder part is that a very large share of Bronx residents on Medicare already have Medicaid, and a surprising number of them are still paying a Medicare Part B premium they may not need to, or paying full price for prescriptions without Extra Help. The Medicare Savings Programs are applied for through HRA, Extra Help through Social Security, EPIC through the state, and a free HIICAP counselor can sort out which of those actually applies to a given household.

This page is for Bronx residents who have Medicare and limited income: people who have had Medicaid for years and want to confirm that Medicare premiums are being paid for them, people who just got Medicare after two years on disability and are not sure what changed, older adults in Co-op City or Riverdale whose income is a little above the Medicaid limit and who have never heard that QI exists, and family members helping a parent in Fordham or Mott Haven read letters. It is also for anyone who has been told the Part B premium "just comes out of the check" and wants to know whether that is still true for them.

HRA is the Medicaid office. There is no Bronx County Department of Social Services. Medicaid for people 65 and over, people with disabilities, and Medicare beneficiaries runs through the NYC Human Resources Administration, and the Medicare Savings Program application (DOH-4328) is filed with HRA. Bronx Medicaid office locations are on nyc.gov/hra. The HRA Medicaid Helpline is the citywide phone channel, and it is the same number in every borough.

HIICAP is coordinated by NYC Aging. The statewide HIICAP line routes by county; say "Bronx." NYC Aging's citywide listing shows two Bronx community sites: Neighborhood SHOPP on East 172nd Street (listed at a temporary address) and the R.A.I.N. Parkchester Neighborhood Senior Center on Metropolitan Avenue, both by appointment. That leaves the North and West Bronx a bus or train ride from an in-person site; phone counseling is the same program.

Extra Help and EPIC are separate applications. Extra Help goes through Social Security. EPIC is for people 65 and older who are in a Part D plan and do not have full Medicaid, which in the Bronx often means the retiree who was never on Medicaid rather than the person who has had it for years. A HIICAP counselor can tell you which applications are worth filing, and in what order, because an approved Medicare Savings Program in New York automatically brings Extra Help.

HRA asks for proof of residency, identity, income, and immigration status, and now requires proof of Medicare. For a Bronx MSP application, that typically means:

• Medicare card, or the Social Security letter showing when Medicare starts.
• Photo ID or another accepted identity document.
• Income proof: Social Security or SSDI benefit letter, pension statements, pay stubs.
• Proof of a Bronx address: lease, NYCHA or Mitchell-Lama rent statement, utility bill, or official mail.
• Citizenship or immigration documents when they cannot be verified electronically.

The Medicare Savings Programs have no resource test in New York, so bank statements are typically not needed for an MSP-only application. Full Medicaid does count resources, and if you are applying for both HRA will ask. Send copies, not originals. HRA generally defers an incomplete application and gives you time to supply what is missing. The full document guide is on nyc.gov/hra.

For orientation only: Montefiore Moses in Norwood; NYC Health + Hospitals / Jacobi near Pelham Parkway; Montefiore Einstein / Weiler in Morris Park; St. Barnabas / SBH Health in Belmont near Fordham; NYC Health + Hospitals / Lincoln in Mott Haven; and BronxCare on the Grand Concourse. These are hospitals, not places to file applications.