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WOMEN,
INFANTS & CHILDREN (WIC) PROGRAM INTRODUCTION: This
paper describes how WIC payment instruments and WIC sales transactions are
currently handled in commissaries, and how we envision this happening in the
future, should the Defense Commissary Agency’s (DeCA) organizational direction
and resource availability favor establishing the future scenario described
below. WHAT
IS WIC AND HOW DOES IT WORK?:
WIC is a
supplemental food and nutrition education program authorized in 1972 by the
Child Nutrition Act. WIC provides
participants with supplemental nutritious food, nutrition counseling and
education, nutrition health screening, and referrals to other health and social
service agencies. The U.S. WIC
program, which operates under guidance and regulations issued by the U. S.
Department of Agriculture/Food and Nutrition Service (USDA/FNS), encompasses WIC
programs in all 50 states, in 32 Native American tribal organizations, and in
the District of Columbia, American Samoa, Guam, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin
Islands. WIC eligibility is restricted to pregnant or postpartum
women, infants up to their first birthday, and children up to their fifth
birthday, who are determined to be at “nutritional risk” based on USDA/FNS
guidelines, and whose gross family income falls at or below 185% of U.S. Poverty
Income Guidelines.
As part of WIC certification, Competent Professional Authorities (CPA) in
WIC clinics/offices prescribe certain WIC-approved foods to meet a WIC
participant’s specific nutritional needs, and WIC clinic/office personnel also
issue WIC payment instruments (PI)—referred to as checks, drafts, vouchers, or
warrants—to WIC participants or their authorized representatives.
These PI show identifying information for the WIC participant, show a
first day to use and a last day to use, and – most importantly – show a list
of WIC-approved foods that the participant may purchase with the PI.
Many PI show a “Not to Exceed” value associated with foods listed on
PI, and include space for a cashier to enter the actual value of a WIC
transaction, and for a WIC patron to sign PI.
WIC office personnel also provide a WIC identification credential to WIC
participants. WIC participants may redeem/spend PIs in
WIC-authorized retail outlets, which include both commercial stores and
commissaries. Most PI are designed
to be negotiable instruments that can be handled in retail outlets and
commercial banking channels essentially like personal checks, but some WIC
programs still use PIs that are non-negotiable, and have to be processed through
WIC program channels. WIC programs
that use negotiable instruments employ a “contract bank” to examine certain
criteria on PIs that WIC-authorized retailers submit for payment, to determine
whether to accept/pay PI value, or to “dishonor” PI.
WIC programs that use non-negotiable PIs do this PI examination process
within the WIC program. WIC
IN COMMISSARIES – CURRENT:
Except for one commissary in Wyoming and one in Ohio, where the WIC benefit is
delivered via a type of Electronic Benefits Transfer (EBT), all commissaries
currently handle WIC payment instruments and WIC sales transactions as described
immediately below. When
a WIC patron arrives at checkout, the patron and cashier must do the following: -Patron
advises cashier that he/she is a WIC patron, then turns WIC ID and PI(s) over to
cashier -Cashier
examines WIC ID and checks PI(s) for validity and for any signs of
alteration/tampering -Patron
must separate WIC foods from foods selected for “personal” purchase, and –
if using more than one PI – must keep WIC food for each PI separate -Cashier must process foods listed on each WIC PI as a separate sales transaction, and must process any “personal” purchases by a WIC patron as a transaction separate from WIC transaction(s); e.g., if a WIC patron uses three PIs and makes “personal” purchases, cashier processes four separate sales transactions for same patron -Cashier
may accept a PI ONLY within date range indicated on PI, and may allow WIC patron
to purchase ONLY the WIC-approved foods listed on PI, and ONLY up to the amounts
of these foods shown on PI. (DeCA’s
front end system has a “WIC module” that “helps” cashiers on dates and
in identifying WIC-approved items, but cashiers must manually check food
amounts.) -WIC
patrons may use “cents off” coupons in WIC transactions, but only if coupons
apply to the WIC-approved items in the transaction -Cashiers
may not accept cash or any form of media other than a WIC PI in payment for WIC
foods. Cashiers may not tender
change, or provide a credit slip or “rain check” for WIC foods listed on a
PI that a patron did not wish to purchase or was unable to purchase; i.e., WIC
PIs are “fill or kill.” Commissary
personnel may not accept returns of/provide refunds for WIC items. -At
completion of transaction, cashier must enter total WIC purchase amount on PI
(some programs also require cashier to enter transaction date) -After cashier has entered WIC purchase amount on PI, WIC patron is required to sign PI, thereby verifying that amount cashier has entered is correct -After
WIC patron has signed PI, cashier must compare signature on PI with signature(s)
on WIC ID credential to make sure that signature on PI matches a signature on ID
credential. (Authorized signatures in WIC credential may be 1) that of WIC
participant, 2) may be that of parent who exercises WIC benefit on behalf of a
child WIC participant, or 3) may be that of a proxy whom a WIC participant has
authorized to purchase WIC foods on behalf of the WIC participant -Prior
to forwarding PIs for payment, most WIC programs require that WIC-authorized
retailers stamp each PI with a WIC program stamp that uniquely identifies each
WIC retailer -WIC
programs that use non-negotiable PIs often have complex, detailed, and very
labor intensive procedures that retailers must follow in submitting PIs for
payment IF
A WIC RETAILER DOES NOT COMPLY WITH ALL WIC PROGRAM RULES FOR HANDLING
PIs/TRANSACTIONS, RETAILER WILL WIND UP WITH PIs DISHONORED!! WIC
IN COMMISSARIES – FUTURE: Deliver
the WIC benefit via “Smart Card” technology that commissary front end system
has capability to “read,” and thereby eliminate: -Hard copy PIs and need for separate WIC ID credential -Requirement to
process a WIC transaction separate from “personal” purchase transaction, and
from other WIC transactions, which makes WIC patron’s life easier -“Fill or kill”
aspect of current PIs, which is of substantial benefit to WIC patron -Requirement for
cashier to check PI dates, food items and food amounts, and much of the training
time associated with these requirements -Requirement for
cashier to enter purchase amount (and date) -Requirement to
stamp PIs with retailer stamp -Requirement to
make physical bank deposits of PIs or to physically submit PIs to WIC program -Potential for
dishonored PIs and associated fiscal loss to retailer Compared
to current non-WIC transactions, current WIC transactions are complex and
protracted. Migration in the future
to “Smart Card” technology to deliver the WIC benefit will eliminate most,
if not all, of the complexity and labor intensity now associated with processing
WIC transactions. |
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Page last updated 02/02/2001 |