Moving between boroughs with a D-SNP: SEPs and what changes

Moving from the Bronx to Queens, or from Brooklyn to Staten Island, is a county change on paper. Each borough is its own county, and Medicare and Medicaid both care about counties. So it is reasonable to worry that a move will knock you out of a D-SNP or an IB-Dual arrangement. For most moves inside New York City it does not, but several things still have to be updated, and the move can open a Special Enrollment Period whether you need one or not. Here is the plain-language version.

First, the county fact

The Bronx is Bronx County. Brooklyn is Kings County. Manhattan is New York County. Queens is Queens County. Staten Island is Richmond County. Plan service areas are defined by county. On the New York State Department of Health’s 2026 chart of integrated dual plans, every product that serves New York City lists all five counties. That means a move between boroughs generally keeps you inside your plan’s service area. It does not mean nothing changes.

What has to change even when the plan does not

1. Your Medicaid case address. In the five boroughs, Medicaid is administered by the NYC Human Resources Administration, so a move from one borough to another is an address update with HRA, not a new application with a new county. Call the HRA Medicaid Helpline at 1-888-692-6116 or update it through ACCESS HRA. Do this first; a wrong address is how renewal notices get lost and coverage lapses.
2. Social Security and Medicare. Social Security holds your Medicare address. Update it with Social Security so Medicare mail follows you.
3. Your plan. Tell the D-SNP (and, if separate, your Medicaid plan) your new address. Plans use it for mail, for confirming you are still in the service area, and for pointing you to nearby providers.
4. Your doctors. Staying in the plan does not mean your new neighborhood has the same in-network practices. Check the provider directory for your new area before you need care.

When a move opens a Special Enrollment Period

Medicare gives everyone, dual or not, a Special Enrollment Period when they move. According to Medicare.gov, if you move outside your plan’s service area, or move to a place where new plan options are available, your chance to switch begins the month you move and continues for two full months after. If you tell the plan before you move, the window starts the month before the move. During that window you can join another Medicare Advantage plan, join a drug plan, or return to Original Medicare.

For an in-city move where your plan already covers the new borough, the “outside the service area” trigger does not apply. The “new options” trigger is unusual within the city but can exist. Either way, most people with both Medicare and Medicaid do not need the move SEP at all, because they have monthly SEPs of their own.

The monthly SEPs people with Medicare and Medicaid have anyway

Under federal rules that took effect January 1, 2025, two Special Enrollment Periods replaced the old quarterly one:

• The dual / Extra Help SEP. Once a month, people with Medicaid (full or partial) or Extra Help can leave a Medicare Advantage plan for Original Medicare plus a stand-alone drug plan, or switch between stand-alone drug plans. It cannot be used to join or switch between Medicare Advantage plans, including D-SNPs. Changes take effect the first of the next month.
• The integrated care SEP. Once a month, people with full Medicaid can join, or switch into, a Medicare D-SNP that is “integrated” (a FIDE SNP, HIDE SNP, or Applicable Integrated Plan) and aligned with their Medicaid managed care plan. New York is on CMS’s list of states with these plans. It cannot be used by people who stay in Medicaid fee-for-service or in an unaligned Medicaid plan.

The practical meaning for movers: if your new neighborhood makes your current D-SNP inconvenient, you generally do not have to wait for the move SEP or for the fall enrollment period to change something. You may have a monthly option. Which option depends on whether you have full Medicaid and what you want to move to, so ask HIICAP to confirm before acting.

What changes for IB-Dual and MAP

IB-Dual and MAP are tied to a county-based service area and to your Medicaid plan. The state’s FAQ says that if you move to a county that does not offer the IB-Dual program, you will be moved to Medicaid fee-for-service. Within New York City, the plans that offer IB-Dual and MAP list all five counties, so a borough-to-borough move usually keeps both halves intact once your address is updated.

Moves out of the city are different. Some New York City plans also cover Nassau, Suffolk, Westchester, Rockland, or Orange; others do not. Moving to a county your plan does not serve ends the D-SNP (with the move SEP to pick something else) and can end the IB-Dual or MAP arrangement. In that case New York Medicaid Choice at 1-800-505-5678 is the right call for the Medicaid side, and outside the city your Medicaid case moves from HRA to the new county’s Department of Social Services. Moving out of New York State ends New York Medicaid entirely; you would apply in the new state and use the move SEP for Medicare.

If you receive home care

If you are in a MAP plan or a Managed Long Term Care plan and you move within the city, tell the plan before the move if you can. Home care is scheduled by address, and aides and agencies are assigned by area, so the plan may need time to arrange coverage in the new borough. If you move to a county outside the plan’s service area, ask New York Medicaid Choice’s long-term care line at 1-888-401-6582 how to transfer without a gap. NY Connects at 1-800-342-9871 can help if you are not sure who to call in the new county.

A checklist for the week of the move

• Update your address with HRA (Medicaid), Social Security (Medicare), and your plan(s).
• Check the D-SNP provider directory for your new neighborhood: primary care, specialists, pharmacy.
• If you have home care, confirm the schedule continues at the new address.
• Note whether the move opened a move SEP (two full months after the move) in case you want it.
• If something no longer works, ask HIICAP which monthly dual SEP applies to the change you want.
• Keep every confirmation number.

For borough-specific details, including the county name that goes on your forms and where the nearest in-person counseling site is, see our borough and neighborhood pages.

Sources

Medicare.gov, “Special Enrollment Periods” (moving; Medicare and Medicaid or Extra Help; losing Medicaid); CMS, “New Special Enrollment Periods (SEPs) for Dually Eligible and Extra Help-eligible Individuals” (effective January 1, 2025); New York State Department of Health, “Integrated Care Plans for Dual Eligible New Yorkers” (2026 plan and service-area chart; FAQ on moving counties); nyc.gov/hra (HRA administers Medicaid in the five boroughs). Confirm on Medicare.gov and health.ny.gov, or call HIICAP at 1-800-701-0501.