Rego Park: checking Medicare Savings Programs and Extra Help from a Queens Boulevard co-op

Rego Park is a neighborhood of co-op towers and six-story walk-ups where many people retired in the same apartment they raised a family in. A lot of them live on Social Security plus a small pension, which often lands right around the line between full Medicaid and the Medicare Savings Programs. This page explains how to find out which side of that line a Rego Park household is on, and how to reach a free counselor who speaks Russian if that helps. Nothing here is an eligibility decision.

ZIP 11374 covers most of Rego Park, roughly from the Long Island Expressway south to the Forest Hills border and from Woodhaven Boulevard east along Queens Boulevard and 63rd Drive. Boundaries are approximate; verify with USPS. On any form that asks for a county, write "Queens."

• HIICAP: 1-800-701-0501. When the recording asks for your county, say "Queens." Tell the counselor you want to check the Medicare Savings Programs and Extra Help, and ask for a Russian interpreter if you want one. Counseling is free and confidential.
• NY Connects: 1-800-342-9871 (Relay 7-1-1) for long-term services and supports questions.
• Nearest in-person site: RAICES/Corona Senior Center, 102-47 43rd Avenue, Corona, NY 11368, 718-458-7259, weekdays 9 to 4, by appointment. From Rego Park take the M or R to Jackson Heights–Roosevelt Avenue and the 7 to 103rd Street–Corona Plaza, or the Q38 bus. Book through NYC Aging Connect at 212-244-6469 (ask for HIICAP).

Medicaid and the Medicare Savings Programs for Rego Park are handled by HRA, the citywide agency. Call the HRA Medicaid Helpline at 1-888-692-6116 to ask where to file, to check the status of an application, or to ask whether your Part B premium is being paid. Do not look for a "Rego Park Medicaid office"; HRA lists its Queens locations on nyc.gov/hra and they change.

1. Gather your income. For a Medicare Savings Program, New York looks at the monthly income of the applicant, or of the couple if married and living together. Adult children in the apartment do not count. For 2026 the state's QMB limit is $1,836 a month for one person and $2,489 for a couple, and the QI limit is $2,474 and $3,355 (health.ny.gov). New York applies no resource test, so co-op shares and savings are not part of an MSP-only application.
2. Call HIICAP and go over the numbers. The counselor will tell you whether the household looks closer to QMB, QI, or full Medicaid, and what that would mean for the Part B premium and prescriptions.
3. File the MSP application (DOH-4328) with HRA, with copies of your Medicare card, ID, income proof, and a Rego Park address document. Russian and Chinese versions of the form are on health.ny.gov.
4. Extra Help comes with an approved MSP in New York. If you are not filing an MSP, you can apply for Extra Help directly through Social Security at 1-800-772-1213.
5. Watch the Social Security check. If QMB or QI is approved, the Part B premium usually stops being deducted, sometimes with a refund for earlier months. Ask HRA or HIICAP if it does not change within a couple of months.

• Assuming co-op equity disqualifies you. Rego Park residents often skip the Medicare Savings Programs because they own their shares. New York does not count resources for QMB or QI; only income matters.
• Asking the building's management office or a neighbor to "do the Medicaid." Well-meaning neighbors on 63rd Drive have filed the wrong form for the wrong program more than once. HRA and HIICAP are free and are the right people to ask.
• Counting a working adult child's salary as household income. For an MSP the household is one person or a married couple. If a form asks about household members, ask HIICAP how to answer before guessing.

Long Island Jewish Forest Hills is the nearest large hospital, east on Queens Boulevard. NYC Health + Hospitals / Elmhurst is a few stops west on the M or R. Neither is a place to file an application.