BOSTON (SHNS) - U.S. Rep. Lori Trahan led a request from members of Congress this week calling on the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services to help families facing high home heating costs this winter by making all aid authorized in a September law available immediately. The federal government generally announces the first chunk of available money for the Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP), a source of aid for low-income residents in Massachusetts and nationwide, in late October or early November. Two years ago, Vice President Kamala Harris used a visit to Boston to promote an infusion of LIHEAP money as residents braced for hefty fuel bills. Trahan and 14 other U.S. House members urged HHS Secretary Xavier Becerra this week to immediately release the maximum amount of LIHEAP money allowed under a spending bill Congress passed in September. Last fiscal year, Massachusetts got about $144 million in LIHEAP funding from the feds out of more than $4 billion nationwide, Trahan's office said. U.S. Reps. Richard Neal, William Keating, Steve Lynch and Seth Moulton also signed the letter. "LIHEAP helps households unable to afford to heat their homes in the winter and cool their homes in the summer, providing assistance to at-risk seniors and families. In Fiscal Year 2023 (FY23), more than five million households across the country relied on critical heating assistance from the LIHEAP program," the 15 lawmakers wrote. "For LIHEAP recipients, this funding is a lifeline, helping prevent them from having to make an impossible choice between staying warm and putting food on the table or affording their medications." Homeowners and renters are eligible for home heating assistance through LIHEAP, and funds are distributed using state-specific income thresholds. Trahan's office said eligibility in Massachusetts is based on a threshold of 60 percent of the estimated state median income. For this year, household eligibility estimates range from $49,196 for a one-person household to $94,608 for a four-person household.