WIC to Get a 16% Funding Increase

Congress needed to approve funding legislation by Friday to protect two critical public health programs – the Women Infant and Children program (WIC) and the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program – aka food stamps (SNAP).

They did so with just a few hours to spare before those two critical public health programs would have had a funding cliff.

Public health DC insiders expected it to be passed (in large part because WIC is associated with the larger USDA bill for farmers who have a powerful lobby). The feed bill, called the Consolidated Appropriations Act included funding for six of the 12 appropriation bills including WIC and SNAP.

Republicans got on board the funding package by insisting that the 20,000 veterans who’ve been deemed unable to manage their veterans’ affairs benefits can still have a gun (many with a serious mental illness). They also got funding cuts from the Department of Justice, the FBI and EPA.

Democrats were able to negotiate a 16% increase in WIC funding – going from $6B annually to $7B.

While the Bill includes the increased funding for WIC, it doesn’t include badly needed administrative reforms to WIC that are included in the separate (and languishing) H.R.8450 – Healthy Meals, Healthy Kids Act like:

  • Updating funding formulas to actually cover staffing and administrative costs;
  • Modernizing WIC benefits to include online shopping (easier participation); and
  • Evaluating effectiveness of telehealth for WIC visits (makes participation easier).

See Also: WIC in Jeopardy in AZ as Counties Consider Dropping the Program: Finances Making Running WIC Untenable

WIC is a federally funded program that supplies important nutritional services and support for eligible pregnant and postpartum individuals and their children until age 5. WIC uses nutritional education, breastfeeding support, nutrition help, and referrals to more services as mechanisms to improve the health of the low-income individuals it serves.

Family income needs to be below 185% of the federal poverty limit in order to qualify (slightly more generous than AZ’s Medicaid participation standard)

WIC money goes to states who further manage the overall program. ADHS mostly distributes the money to the county health departments and federally qualified health centers to implement WIC programming.

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