# Free Food Finder NY — 142-Tip Source Audit, Phase 2

Generated: 2026-08-02

- Phase 2 scope: remaining **Health Benefits** and **Caregiving, Senior & Disability** rows.
- The Phase 1 source-row alignment error was corrected: all 142 site tips were rematched to their actual program records before this phase was recorded.
- Four programs missing from the original source export were reconstructed as baseline rows: NYC Care/H+H Options, regional paratransit, free tax preparation, and IBEW Local 25.

## Material corrections applied to the site

- NYC Care is identified as a NYC-resident program; H+H Options is kept separate, and the unsupported Nassau-specific claim was removed.
- Medical-debt credit-report copy now acknowledges litigation-related uncertainty and tells users to dispute and verify.
- Veteran-Directed Care no longer promises that a spouse can be hired; the official source supports hiring a family member or other chosen worker, subject to local rules.
- NHTD is marked closed to new referrals after reaching its participant cap; the TBI waiver is described separately.
- NYC Right to Counsel no longer carries an unsupported income restriction.
- Project Warmth is marked closed for the season.

## Health Benefits

### 1. Got a Hospital Bill?
- **Status:** Verified current
- **Finding:** Official NYS page revised May 2026 confirms statewide hospital financial assistance through 400% FPL and a uniform application; application is not automatic.

### 2. Stop Losing Money From Your Social Security Check
- **Status:** Verified current
- **Finding:** 2026 QMB limit is $1,836/month single or $2,489/couple before the $20 disregard; QI is $2,474/$3,355. QMB covers Part A/B premiums, deductibles and coinsurance.

### 3. Working With a Disability?
- **Status:** Correction needed
- **Finding:** The current MBI-WPD page gives gross-income ceilings of $80,820 single and $109,236 couple. The older $68,654 figure is the separate 1619(b) threshold, not the MBI-WPD ceiling.

### 4. Get a Free Air Conditioner Delivered and Installed
- **Status:** Needs current status check
- **Finding:** The official Cooling Program page indexed by search still displays 2025 closure information and says 2026 depends on funding. Do not publish a specific 2026 closing date without a current agency page or phone confirmation.

### 5. Seniors: Add a Second Prescription Program on Top of Medicare Part D
- **Status:** Verified current
- **Finding:** Official EPIC materials confirm age 65+, New York residency, Part D participation, income limits of $75,000 single/$100,000 married, $3-$20 EPIC copays, and 2026 premium assistance rules.
- **Official source(s):** https://www.health.ny.gov/health_care/epic/ | https://www.health.ny.gov/health_care/epic/eligibility.htm | https://www.health.ny.gov/health_care/epic/premium_assistance.htm

### 6. No Insurance?
- **Status:** Verified with correction
- **Finding:** NYC Care is not insurance and is for NYC residents. H+H Options is a separate financial-assistance pathway. The prior Nassau-at-Queens-facilities claim was not supported by the official pages reviewed and has been removed.
- **Official source(s):** https://www.nyccare.nyc/ | https://www.nychealthandhospitals.org/financial-assistance/

### 7. Medicaid May Pay for Your Ride—or Gas Money—to Medical Visits
- **Status:** Verified current
- **Finding:** NYS Medicaid transportation covers the least costly medically appropriate transportation to covered medical care, including public transit, livery, ambulette, ambulance when medically necessary, and personal-vehicle mileage reimbursement.
- **Official source(s):** https://www.health.ny.gov/health_care/medicaid/members/medtrans_overview.htm

### 8. Get $0-Premium Health Insurance With Dental and Vision Included
- **Status:** Verified current
- **Finding:** The Essential Plan currently has $0 premiums, no deductible, adult dental and vision, and year-round enrollment for eligible applicants; networks and service copays still apply.
- **Official source(s):** https://info.nystateofhealth.ny.gov/EssentialPlan

### 9. Parents: Get Thousands in Therapy for a Child Under 3—No Income Test
- **Status:** Verified current
- **Finding:** NYS Early Intervention serves eligible children under age three and provides evaluation and approved services without parent copays or deductibles, regardless of family income.
- **Official source(s):** https://www.health.ny.gov/community/infants_children/early_intervention/

### 10. Medicaid Can Now Help Pay for Food, Housing and Transportation Problems
- **Status:** Verified with qualification
- **Finding:** All Medicaid members may receive screening and navigation, but enhanced Social Care Network services require managed-care enrollment, an unmet need, membership in an enhanced population and sometimes clinical criteria. Availability varies by region.
- **Official source(s):** https://www.health.ny.gov/health_care/medicaid/redesign/social_care_networks/ | https://www.health.ny.gov/health_care/medicaid/redesign/social_care_networks/member_information.htm

### 11. Have Diabetes?
- **Status:** Verified with correction
- **Finding:** NY State of Health confirms $0 cost sharing for many covered diabetes services and formulary drugs, with different exceptions for QHPs and the Essential Plan. The site copy remains qualified rather than promising every diabetes expense is free.
- **Official source(s):** https://info.nystateofhealth.ny.gov/2025costsavings

### 12. Pregnant?
- **Status:** Verified with correction
- **Finding:** NY State of Health confirms reduced or $0 cost sharing for many pregnancy and postpartum services, but QHP and Essential Plan exceptions differ. The copy now avoids saying every maternity charge is free.
- **Official source(s):** https://info.nystateofhealth.ny.gov/2025costsavings

### 13. Medicaid May Pay a Relative or Friend to Provide Your Home Care
- **Status:** Verified with correction
- **Finding:** CDPAP can pay an eligible chosen assistant, but spouses, designated representatives and parents of consumers under 21 cannot be paid. PPL is the statewide fiscal intermediary.
- **Official source(s):** https://www.health.ny.gov/health_care/medicaid/program/longterm/cdpap/

### 14. Need a Ramp, Lift or Accessible Bathroom?
- **Status:** Verified with qualification
- **Finding:** Environmental modifications may be authorized through specific Medicaid HCBS programs when medically or functionally necessary. This is not a general home-improvement grant and requires program enrollment, assessment and prior approval.
- **Official source(s):** https://www.health.ny.gov/health_care/medicaid/redesign/home_community_based_settings.htm

### 15. Medical Debt on Your Credit Report?
- **Status:** Legal uncertainty—copy softened
- **Finding:** New York enacted a prohibition on reporting covered medical debt, but a 2025 Department of State consumer alert notes litigation-related uncertainty. The site now tells users to dispute and verify rather than promising the tradeline cannot appear.
- **Official source(s):** https://www.nysenate.gov/legislation/bills/2023/S4907 | https://dos.ny.gov/news/consumer-alert-new-york-department-states-division-consumer-protection-warns-new-yorkers

### 16. Get a Free Personal Care Team Through Medicaid
- **Status:** Verified current
- **Finding:** Medicaid Health Homes provide care management, not housing. Eligibility requires active Medicaid plus qualifying chronic/behavioral conditions and appropriateness for intensive care management.
- **Official source(s):** https://www.health.ny.gov/health_care/medicaid/program/medicaid_health_homes/ | https://www.health.ny.gov/health_care/medicaid/program/medicaid_health_homes/eligibility.htm

### 17. Hit With a Surprise ER Bill?
- **Status:** Verified current
- **Finding:** For qualifying emergency and surprise out-of-network services, patients generally owe only in-network cost sharing. Some services and plan types use federal rather than state procedures, and ground ambulances remain a common gap.
- **Official source(s):** https://www.dfs.ny.gov/consumers/health_insurance/surprise_medical_bills

### 18. Medicare and Medicaid?
- **Status:** Plan-specific confirmation required
- **Finding:** D-SNP food, OTC and utility allowances are not universal. Publish only benefit language supported by the exact current Evidence of Coverage for the plan and service area.
- **Official source(s):** https://www.medicare.gov/health-drug-plans/health-plans/your-coverage-options/SNP

### 19. Just Left the Hospital?
- **Status:** Plan-specific confirmation required
- **Finding:** Post-discharge meals vary by plan, discharge event, authorization, meal count and service area. The exact current Evidence of Coverage or written plan authorization is required.
- **Official source(s):** https://www.health.ny.gov/health_care/managed_care/

### 20. Low Income and Medically Vulnerable?
- **Status:** Seasonal recheck required
- **Finding:** HEAP Cooling Assistance is seasonal, first-come and funding-limited. The permanent tip must tell users to check current OTDA status rather than imply year-round availability.
- **Official source(s):** https://otda.ny.gov/programs/heap/

## Caregiving, Senior & Disability

### 1. Getting Paid to Care for Mom?
- **Status:** Verified with correction
- **Finding:** CDPAP may pay an eligible relative or friend based on authorized hours and wage rules. The fixed $50,000/year headline was removed, and spouse/parent/designated-representative exclusions remain explicit.
- **Official source(s):** https://www.health.ny.gov/health_care/medicaid/program/longterm/cdpap/

### 2. Veterans: Use a VA Care Budget to Hire a Family Member or Trusted Worker
- **Status:** Verified with correction
- **Finding:** VA states that Veteran-Directed Care can let a participant hire a chosen worker, including a family member or neighbor, where locally available. The official page reviewed does not specifically guarantee spouse hiring, so the title and copy were softened.
- **Official source(s):** https://www.va.gov/GERIATRICS/pages/Veteran-Directed_Care.asp

### 3. Family Caregivers: Get a Monthly VA Stipend Plus Health and Respite Benefits
- **Status:** Verified current
- **Finding:** PCAFC can provide one approved primary caregiver a monthly stipend plus training, respite, counseling and possible CHAMPVA. Current eligibility includes a qualifying veteran with at least a 70% service-connected rating and a need for personal care for at least six continuous months.
- **Official source(s):** https://www.caregiver.va.gov/support/support_benefits.asp | https://www.va.gov/family-member-benefits/comprehensive-assistance-for-family-caregivers/

### 4. Earn Too Much for Medicaid Home Care?
- **Status:** Verified with qualification
- **Finding:** Official Medicaid guidance supports excess-income spenddown and pooled trusts for eligible people. A pooled trust requires certified disability and nonprofit administration; it is not an unrestricted bank account.
- **Official source(s):** https://www.health.ny.gov/health_care/medicaid/excess_income.htm | https://www.health.ny.gov/health_care/medicaid/reference/mrg/other-eligibility-requirements.pdf

### 5. Get Up to 12 Weeks of Paid Leave to Care for a Sick Relative
- **Status:** Verified current
- **Finding:** For 2026, covered workers may receive up to 12 weeks at 67% of wages, capped at $1,228.53 per week, to care for a qualifying family member with a serious health condition.
- **Official source(s):** https://paidfamilyleave.ny.gov/2026 | https://paidfamilyleave.ny.gov/family-care

### 6. Avoid a Nursing Home
- **Status:** Partly closed to new referrals
- **Finding:** NYS DOH announced in May 2026 that NHTD reached its participant cap and is not processing new referrals. The separate TBI waiver remains subject to its own eligibility and local capacity. The combined card was corrected to distinguish them.
- **Official source(s):** https://www.health.ny.gov/facilities/long_term_care/waiver/nhtd/ | https://www.health.ny.gov/health_care/medicaid/reference/mrg/mrg.pdf

### 7. Veterans and Surviving Spouses
- **Status:** Verified with qualification
- **Finding:** Aid and Attendance or Housebound is an increase to an existing qualifying VA pension for veterans or survivors who meet financial and care criteria. It does not directly employ a caregiver.
- **Official source(s):** https://www.va.gov/pension/aid-attendance-housebound/

### 8. NYC Seniors and Disabled Tenants
- **Status:** Verified current limit
- **Finding:** The live NYC Rent Freeze application page still lists a $50,000 combined household-income ceiling. Do not publish $75,000 until NYC implements it in the official application rules.
- **Official source(s):** https://www.nyc.gov/site/rentfreeze/freezing/freezing-your-rent.page

### 9. Burned-Out Family Caregivers
- **Status:** Verified current
- **Finding:** The National Family Caregiver Support Program can provide information, counseling, training, respite and limited supplemental services through local aging agencies. It is not a guaranteed cash stipend.
- **Official source(s):** https://aging.ny.gov/caring-loved-one

### 10. Not Eligible for Medicaid?
- **Status:** Verified current
- **Finding:** EISEP serves adults age 60+ with functional needs who are not eligible for the same services through Medicaid. Services and sliding-scale contributions depend on local assessment and capacity.
- **Official source(s):** https://aging.ny.gov/expanded-home-services-elderly-program-eisep

### 11. Get Doctors, Prescriptions, Transportation and Home Care Through One Senior Program
- **Status:** Verified with qualification
- **Finding:** PACE requires age 55+, residence in a PACE service area, nursing-home level of care and ability to live safely in the community. Provider choice is largely within the PACE network and premiums may apply without Medicaid.
- **Official source(s):** https://www.medicare.gov/health-drug-plans/health-plans/your-coverage-options/other-medicare-health-plans/PACE

### 12. Get Free Developmental Therapy for a Child Under 3—No Income Test
- **Status:** Verified current
- **Finding:** Early Intervention provides evaluation and approved developmental services for eligible children under three without parent copays or deductibles, regardless of income.
- **Official source(s):** https://www.health.ny.gov/community/infants_children/early_intervention/

### 13. Can’t Use Regular Transit?
- **Status:** Verified current
- **Finding:** Access-A-Ride, NICE Able-Ride and Suffolk accessible transportation are separate shared-ride programs for people whose disability prevents ordinary transit use. Each requires its own application and certification.
- **Official source(s):** https://new.mta.info/accessibility/paratransit | https://www.nicebus.com/Tools/Paratransit | https://suffolkcountyny.gov/Departments/Economic-Development-and-Planning/Transportation/Accessible-Transportation

### 14. One Free Phone Call Can Uncover Home Care, Respite and Disability Benefits
- **Status:** Verified current
- **Finding:** NY Connects provides free, objective information and options counseling for people of all ages and disabilities, regardless of payment source. It does not guarantee admission to a referred program.
- **Official source(s):** https://www.nyconnects.ny.gov/

### 15. Homeowners Over 65
- **Status:** Verified with qualification
- **Finding:** New York permits local senior exemptions of up to 50% of assessed value, but local adoption, income limits, deadlines and percentage schedules vary. It is separate from STAR.
- **Official source(s):** https://www.tax.ny.gov/pit/property/exemption/seniorexempt.htm

### 16. Have a Disability?
- **Status:** Verified current
- **Finding:** ACCES-VR may authorize education, training, rehabilitation technology, transportation, tools and equipment tied to an approved employment plan. Purchases must be authorized in advance and financial participation can apply.
- **Official source(s):** https://www.acces.nysed.gov/vr

### 17. Your Apartment Building May Include Free Nurses, Social Workers and Benefits Help
- **Status:** Verified with qualification
- **Finding:** NORC services are available only in designated buildings or neighborhood catchment areas. Programs provide case management and health-support services, not a portable statewide benefit.
- **Official source(s):** https://aging.ny.gov/naturally-occurring-retirement-community-norc

### 18. Facing Eviction in NYC?
- **Status:** Verified with correction
- **Finding:** NYC Universal Access/Right to Counsel provides free legal help in Housing Court and certain NYCHA matters across all ZIP codes. The official page reviewed does not impose the income restriction stated in the old source row, so that limitation was removed.
- **Official source(s):** https://www.nyc.gov/site/hra/help/legal-services-for-tenants.page

### 19. No Heat on Long Island?
- **Status:** Closed for the season
- **Finding:** United Way of Long Island currently marks Project Warmth closed for the season. The card now directs users to recheck during the next heating season rather than implying intake is open.
- **Official source(s):** https://www.unitedwayli.org/project-warmth