Vermont WIC MIS/EBT Project What is WIC EBT and How Will It Change Vermont WIC?

The food delivery change is actually a two-part process …  Migration from Home Delivery to Retail  Migration from paper Food Instruments (FIs) to Electronic Benefits Transfer (EBT)

Current Food Delivery  Triple system: (1)POD and home delivery (2)Direct distribution for special formulas (3)EBT cash value for fruits & veggies  Paper-based, faxing, scanning, phoning  Financial reconciliation and payment done manually  Limitations on participant food choices  Interruptions to delivery; concerns about food quality

Electronic Benefits Transfer (EBT) will:  Make food delivery process paperless  Provide more food choices  Increase use of fruit and veggie benefit  Simplify financial management  Increase accountability  Gather better information about benefit use for nutrition counseling & education  HOW????

WIC Benefit Issuance  As with home delivery, an electronically stored account is created for each household at the time of certification and assignment of food package. (The account is created by Ceres.)  The account lists foods by category (e.g. milk), subcategory (e.g. non- fat) and quantity (e.g. 2 qts)  A message with the account information is sent by Ceres to the EBT “Host” computer for accessing by grocers  At the clinic, the household is issued a single card for accessing all participating members’ benefits stored on the EBT Host  Recertified households use the same card. Only the stored account (not the card) is modified at recertification.

Connecting at the Grocer’s  Foods on the Vermont Authorized Products List are identified to retail vendors using nationally standardized UPC and PLU codes so their scanners can recognize WIC eligible foods. Grocers download this list to their electronic cash register (ECR) systems.  Grocer systems will be set up to: 1.“Read” the WIC participant’s card for household identity; then… 2.Connect with the EBT system Host computer to “read” the food prescription for that household that is electronically stored there; and then… 3.Compare the scanned foods for WIC eligible foods available in the household’s account; and then … 4.Send a message to the EBT Host identifying the eligible foods purchased, to “debit” the household’s electronic account, and post the charge for each item.

The WIC EBT Transaction  Cashier scans foods 1.Item UPC is compared to APL stored in grocer system-- Is this UPC on the APL? (That is, is this a WIC food?) 2.The grocer’s ECR “flags” and stores the WIC eligible foods until all foods are scanned  Participant swipes or inserts card and enters PIN. System validates card, PIN and retailer  Cashier “totals” the transaction 1.Flagged WIC items are compared to participant’s WIC account, stored on the WIC EBT Host. Is this item in the participant’s prescribed food account? (eg. Does her account contain 18 oz. peanut butter?) 2.EBT system approves or denies transaction

The WIC EBT Transaction  If approved: 1.Store price is captured for each food item 2.Discounts, coupons are applied 3.If price exceeds Not-to-Exceed, reimbursement amount to grocer for item is reduced to NTE 4.Paid amount is calculated 5.HH account balance is reduced by amounts purchased 6.Receipt showing details of transaction and updated account balance is printed for household.

WIC EBT vs SNAP EBT Benefit Type SNAPCash Value WIC Specific quantity of specific foods plus Cash Value for F&V

Eligible Foods SNAPAny food exempt from sales tax WIC Specific foods/brands identified by UPC/PLU WIC EBT vs SNAP EBT

Pricing SNAPNo price limitations WIC State required to set maximum allowable price for each food item WIC EBT vs SNAP EBT

In the Lane SNAP Major ECR systems already programmed to recognize SNAP-eligible items. WIC Requires grocers to maintain database of eligible foods and a scanner system to automatically check purchases in real time for eligibility. If “look-up” function is not integrated into ECR, requires separate scanning to look-up items and charge to WIC account. WIC EBT vs SNAP EBT

EBT History  USDA SNAP Pilot (Reading, PA)  First statewide SNAP EBT project (Maryland)  2002 – First statewide WIC EBT system (Wyoming)  2004 – SNAP EBT nationwide all 50 states, DC, Guam, US VI, and Puerto Rico  – Texas, Nevada, New Mexico rollout smartcard WIC EBT systems  2009 – Michigan, first statewide online WIC EBT system  2010 – KY begins rollout of second WIC EBT online system  2020 – Congressional mandate for nationwide WIC EBT

Timeline for MIS and EBT CurrentlyProcurement of contractors 2/2014 – 5/2014Design process 6/2014 – 5/2015System development & testing 5/2015 – 9/2015System Pilot 9/2015 – 3/2016Statewide roll-out

Staff Roles in the Project  Opportunities for staff participation 1.Expert knowledge in design phase 2.Feedback & testing in development phase 3.Preparing families for change 4.Early adopters for pilot

Any Questions?