WIC

Basic Concept:

• The Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children (WIC) is a federally funded program that provides food and other forms of support to women, infants, and children at nutritional risk.

WIC Program History:

1974- Beginning in Kentucky, WIC was piloted as a supplemental food program aimed to improve the health of pregnant mothers, infants, and children in response to growing concern over malnutrition among many poverty-stricken mothers and young children.

1975- WIC was operating in 45 states and was established as a permanent program by Legislation.

1992- WIC introduced an enhanced food package for exclusively breastfeeding mothers to further promote breastfeeding.

2009- the USDA introduced new food packages containing items consistent with the Dietary Guidelines for Americans and established dietary recommendations for infants and children.

Services Provided by WIC: 1

• The Food and Nutrition Service (FNS), a Federal agency of the US Department of Agriculture, administers this program on the national and regional level through 90 WIC agencies.

• WIC operates through 1,900 local agencies, 10,000 clinic sites, and approximately 47,000 authorized retailers.

• Examples of where WIC services are provided:

  • County health departments

  • Hospitals

  • Mobile clinics

  • Community centers

  • Schools

  • Public housing sites

  • Migrant health centers and camps

  • Native American Health Service facilities

  • Local WIC clinics use money from the federal government to provide services such as supplying nutritious food and nutritional counseling, breastfeeding promotion and support, and referrals for health care

  • WIC also provides vouchers for “supplemental foods” deemed especially necessary for low-income women and young children

  • These are based on recommendations made by the Institute of Medicine:

    • Examples include baby food, infant formula, milk, fruits and vegetables, iron-fortified adult cereal, peanut butter, eggs, and whole grain products.

The WIC Infant Formula Rebate System: 2

• Infant formula is the single most expensive item WIC provides and the program spends more on than any other food.

• The creation of the Infant Formula Rebate System began in the mid-1980s when infant formula accounted for nearly 40% of total WIC food costs, and the cost of formula was rising faster than other foods and consumer goods. -

• The rising prices made it more difficult for state WIC agencies to serve a substantial portion of eligible women, infants and children within their WIC funding allotments. Many eligible individuals were placed on waitlists.

  • As a result, WIC state agencies are required by law to enter infant formula rebate contracts with infant formula manufacturers.

  • Infant formula manufacturers provide substantial discounts, in the form of rebates, to state WIC agencies in return for the exclusive right to provide their products to the state’s WIC participants. How it works:

    • After a WIC participant purchases infant formula at a WIC-authorized grocery store using a WIC food voucher, the state WIC program reimburses the store for the retail price of the formula.

    • The state WIC program then bills the manufacturer that won the contract for the rebate that the manufacturer offered in its winning bid.

    • As a result, the cost to WIC for each purchase of infant formula is well below the normal retail price.

    • These rebates mean that WIC obtains infant formula at a large discount, generating $1.3 billion to $2 billion a year in savings that allows WIC to serve 2 million more participants each year with its federal funding.

Eligibility Requirements:

• To be eligible for WIC, applicants must meet categorical, residential, income, and nutritional risk requirements:

  • Categorical: Must be a woman who is pregnant, postpartum, or breastfeeding* OR An infant (up to 1st birthday) or child up to the age of five

    • *A pregnant woman is defined as through pregnancy and up to 6 weeks after birth or after pregnancy ends, breastfeeding women includes women who breastfeed only up to the infant’s 1st birthday, non breastfeeding postpartum women is defined as up to 6 months after the birth or after pregnancy ends.

    • Residential: Applicants must live in the state in which they apply

    • Income: An applicant's family gross income (meaning before taxes are withheld) must be below 185% of the poverty line

      • If applicants are eligible for SNAP, Medicaid, or TANF, they are automatically eligible

      • Nutrition Risk: A health professional must determine that an individual is at “nutritional risk” (appointments are available for free at WIC clinics)

        • Conditions such as anemia, being underweight, history of pregnancy complications or having a poor diet are considered to be nutritional risks

        • Typically, WIC recipients receive benefits for 6 months and can reapply thereafter.

        • If there are limited openings for WIC benefits, priority is given to those most in need.

Program Participants: 3

• Based on FY 2019 preliminary data an estimated 6,396,874 individuals participated in WIC

• Of this population, 3,272,015 were children, 1,612,779 infants, and 1,512,080 were women (see chart.)

• For FY 2017 (complete data):

  • An estimated 7,286,161 individuals participated in WIC.

  • Of this population, 3,760,839 were children, 1,787,331 were infants, and 1,973,283 were women.