Jackson Heights: free MSP and Extra Help applications in Spanish, Bengali, and more

Along Roosevelt Avenue and 37th Avenue there is no shortage of storefronts offering to "process" Medicaid, Medicare, or benefits paperwork for a fee. The Medicare Savings Program application is free, the state prints it in Spanish and Bengali, HRA and HIICAP both provide interpreters, and a counselor can go through it with you at no charge. This page is written so that a Jackson Heights household can do the whole thing without paying anyone.

ZIP 11372 covers the core of Jackson Heights; 11377 covers the Woodside side and blocks toward Northern Boulevard. Approximate; verify with USPS. The county for all of it, including the 11377 blocks, is "Queens."

• HIICAP: 1-800-701-0501. Say "Queens," then ask for an interpreter in Spanish, Bengali, Nepali, Hindi, Urdu, or Punjabi. Free and confidential.
• NY Connects: 1-800-342-9871 (Relay 7-1-1).
• Nearest in-person sites: RAICES/Corona Senior Center, 102-47 43rd Avenue, Corona, NY 11368, 718-458-7259, weekdays 9 to 4 (7 train east to 103rd Street–Corona Plaza); or Sunnyside Community Senior Center, 43-31 39th Street, 718-784-6173 x411, weekdays 9 to 4:30 (7 train west). Both by appointment through NYC Aging Connect at 212-244-6469 (ask for HIICAP).

Applications go to HRA, the citywide Medicaid agency, not to any office on Roosevelt Avenue. The HRA Medicaid Helpline is 1-888-692-6116 and has interpreters. Queens office locations are on nyc.gov/hra. If someone tells you they can "get you approved faster" for a fee, they cannot; HRA processes every application the same way.

1. Download DOH-4328 in your language from health.ny.gov (Spanish and Bengali are among the versions listed), or ask HRA to mail one.
2. List monthly income for yourself, or you and your spouse if living together. Adult children, nieces, and roommates in the apartment are not part of an MSP household. New York applies no resource test. The 2026 limits on health.ny.gov are $1,836 (one) and $2,489 (couple) for QMB and $2,474 and $3,355 for QI.
3. Call HIICAP and go through the form line by line with an interpreter. Fifteen minutes on the phone replaces a paid "processor."
4. Attach copies of your Medicare card, ID, income proof, a Jackson Heights address document, and immigration documents if asked. Never send originals.
5. File with HRA and keep proof of when. Extra Help follows an approved MSP automatically; if you are filing for Extra Help alone, that is Social Security at 1-800-772-1213.

• Paying a storefront on Roosevelt Avenue to file a free form. The application costs nothing, and paying does not change the outcome or the timing.
• Writing "Woodside" or "Elmhurst" as the county. The 11377 side of Jackson Heights confuses people because the mail says Woodside. The county is Queens.
• Letting a relative answer the income questions from memory. Use the actual Social Security letter and pension statements; a guess that is off by a hundred dollars a month can put a person on the wrong side of the QMB line.

NYC Health + Hospitals / Elmhurst on Broadway is the nearest public hospital, one stop south. The 74th Street–Broadway and Jackson Heights–Roosevelt Avenue complex (7, E, F, M, R) is one ride from both counseling sites. Neither is an application office.