REVISED Attachment 3 - WIC Program Overview.docx

Attachment 3 NJ WIC Program Overview

The WIC Program provides supplemental food, Infant Formula, nutrition education and referral services to breastfeeding women, pregnant and postpartum women, infants and children up to age five who are determined to be at nutritional risk. The program actively supports and promotes breastfeeding as the preferred choice for mothers and infants. WIC Services offers breastfeeding promotion, continuing education, and a variety of programs and activities to encourage breastfeeding.

The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) issues a grant to the WIC Services, which distributes funds to participating WIC Local Agencies. These funds are used to provide the specified nutritious food and Infant Formula to WIC Participants, and pay specified administrative costs, including those for nutrition and breastfeeding education.

Through a Single Supplier System, WIC Services issues food benefits to certified eligible pregnant, breast-feeding and postpartum women, and the parents/guardians of certified eligible infants and children up to the age of five (5) years (Participants). WIC Services currently serves approximately 145,500 Participants per month, just over 67% of the estimated 217,503 WIC eligible NJ population.

NJ WIC Participation and Rebate Data

The below chart demonstrates WIC Services participation (based on feeding type) from November 2021-April 2022. These numbers are a point in time and subject to change:

The below four (4) charts demonstrate the number of Contract Brand Infant Formula Units, by type, purchased by Participants per month, November 2021-April 2022. These numbers are a point in time and subject to change:

The below two (2) charts demonstrate the number of Standard Non-Contract Brand Infant Formula Units, by type, purchased by Participants per month, November 2021 - April 2022. These numbers are a point in time and subject to change:

The below chart demonstrates the monthly number of infants and children issued formula benefits by formula type, November 2021-April 2022. These numbers are a point in time and subject to change:

Note: The participation numbers and Infant Formula data does not necessarily reflect actual issuance and redemption that will occur under the new Contract award resulting from this Bid Solicitation.

The USDA’s Maximum Monthly Allowance (MMA) of reconstituted ounces of Infant Formula per fully formula-fed infant is as follows:

The USDA’s Maximum Monthly Allowance (MMA) of reconstituted ounces of Infant Formula per partially breast-fed infant is as follows:

NOTE: These are the allowable benefits as stated by USDA currently but may change during this Contract.

The following is an example of the monthly number of Units of Infant Formula issued, based on form and size, to fully formula fed infants as WIC food benefits. This is an example only and is subject to change:

PROCEDURE FOR ISSUANCE AND REDEMPTION OF FORMULA

WIC Services has developed an automated system that creates and manages WIC Participant files, uploads food items prescribed by WIC nutrition staff as electronic benefits to Participants’ accounts, and generates on demand reports that track participation, issuance and redemption of the WIC benefits. WIC Local Agencies may issue, prospectively, up to three (3) months’ worth of benefits. Each of the three (3) months has a separate redemption period with a specific first and last date to use for the designated month, covering a 30-day period. The family’s monthly food benefit account details a list of the total types and quantities of WIC foods for all Participants in the family that can be purchased during that 30 day period. In the case of Participants who are prescribed a formula, the formula’s product name, size and form, in addition to the number of Units that can be purchased in the 30 day period, are delineated in the family benefit account for each separate issuance period.

WIC Services will issue Infant Formula in accordance with 7 C.F.R. 246.10(e)(1)-(e)(3) and (e)(9). In addition, WIC Services will, if necessary to provide the Full Nutritional Benefit (FNB), use the methodology outlined in 7 CFR 246.10(h) when issuing Infant Formula (Reference the following link for WIC Program regulations: https://www.ecfr.gov/cgi-bin/text-idx?SID=b24ad5d7b8328074f2ed02ff4b9fc3a2&node=se7.4.246_110&rgn=div8.

Based on a Participant’s feeding method and formula type, WIC Services offers to participants the full nutrition benefit based on the Maximum Monthly Allowance (MMA) of reconstituted fluid ounces of liquid concentrate Infant Formula.

WIC Services issues Contract Brand Infant Formula for milk and soy-based Infant Formula as formula of first choice. While Infant Formula is primarily issued to infants, it may also be issued to children with qualifying medical conditions if it is prescribed by a health care provider.

In cases when a Contract Brand Infant formula is available in multiple physical forms, WIC Services issues ready to feed when the WIC participant is mentally disabled and unable to reconstitute the formula or lives in an area with an unsanitary or a restricted water supply.

In cases of Participants that are homeless or in group shelters, depending on the participant’s individual circumstances, the WIC nutritionist will prescribe powdered or ready to feed forms of Contract Brand Infant Formulas.

WIC Services requires medical documentation from Participantsprior to issuing any Non-Contract Brand Infant Formula, including Exempt Infant Formula, eligible nutritional and authorized WIC medical foods, in accordance with 7 CFR 246.10(d)(1)(i)-(vi); except as allowed under any applicable waivers.

In order to accommodate religious eating practices/patterns, WIC Services authorizes WIC Local Agencies to issue Non-Contract Brand Infant Formula that meets federal requirements without medical documentation.

Except for the issuance of the Contract Brand Infant Formula(s) as formula of first choice, WIC Services provides no guarantee of the quantity, type, or physical forms that will be issued. WIC Services cannot guarantee that all benefits issued to program Participants will be Redeemed. WIC Services will collect a Rebate on Contract Brand Infant Formulas issued to and Redeemed Participants up to the their MMA.

WIC Services allows Participants, when experiencing formula intolerance, to return Units of WIC Redeemed formula to a WIC clinic to exchange for an alternative WIC formula. Total formula issuance for the benefit month is not to exceed the MMA. Additionally, with official documentation, the WIC clinic may replace formula in circumstances of fire or theft to prevent unnecessary hardship to the participant. Rebates will be paid by the Contractor on all Contract Brand Infant Formula issued to a Participant within the MMA.

WIC Services utilizes a single, statewide, uniform food delivery system. This electronic benefit transfer system is a retail purchase arrangement involving the exchange of issued electronic benefits by WIC eligible cardholders for specific authorized foods/formulas. A WIC Retailer is certified and WIC authorized to accept eWIC (EBT) cards. WIC Services’ exempt formula supplier (Community Action Partnership Formula Distribution Center, Lancaster PA) is also authorized to accept WIC electronic orders for formula and medical exempt formulas and nutritionals. The Community Action Partnership Formula Distribution Center and WIC Retailers have a contractual agreement with New Jersey Department of Health to accept these electronic benefits in accordance with federal requirements set forth in 7 CFR 246.12(f).

Participants can redeem their valid monthly family benefits (not retailer specific) at over 900 approved WIC Retailers providing allowable items including approved Infant Formula. Currently the WIC Retailers are categorized into 11 designated WIC Retailer Peer Groups in New Jersey. The WIC Retailer Peer Groups are as follows:

A. Chain Corporation – Corporation with 11 or more stores;

B. Large Independent Vendor with an owner of one (1) or more stores with three (3) or more cash registers;

C. Small Owner of one (1) or more stores with one (1) to two (2) cash registers;

D. Exempt Formula Supplier; and E. Commissary/Military Post store providing WIC items for Participants affiliated with a military base.

Note: Chain Corporation, Large Independent and Small Owner WIC Vendor Peer Groups are further subcategorized into the north, central, and southern region of the State.

WIC Services’ eWIC transaction process uses an issued EBT benefit card to perform a series of real-time transactions between a WIC Retailer’s point of sales system, either integrated or single function, and the WIC EBT processor. The Infant Formula Unit’s Universal Product Code (UPC) is electronically compared to the Approved Product List (APL) at the WIC Retailer, against the EBT processor’s system for authorization. Authorized Infant Formula UPC’s are compared to the cardholder’s family benefits account balance to determine available Infant Formula benefits. Infant Formula Units approved in the eWIC purchase transaction are subtracted from the cardholder’s account balance. The amount of the sale and list of Infant Formulas purchased is submitted for payment. Partial redemptions do not apply, since redemption transactions are actual products purchased via the eWIC EBT system. NJ WIC does not issue manual vouchers if the WIC EBT processor’s system cannot redeem benefits at the WIC Retailer’s point of sale system. All transactions must be Redeemed via the eWIC system or through the exempt formula supplier.

Rebate payments to WIC shall be based on the number of Units of manufacturer’s Contract Brand Infant Formula Redeemed by Participants, including Contract Brand Infant Formula that may be redeemed by WIC Services when conducting undercover Compliance Buys.

Each month, WIC Services, using a reporting function in their Management Information System (MIS), produces an eWIC Formula Rebate Redeemed report that serves as the New Jersey WIC Service’s Infant Formula Rebate Invoice (Invoice) (see section 4.7.2 and 4.7.3 of the bid solicitation) . The Infant Formula Rebate Invoice (Invoice) (Reference Attachment 4, Sample Infant Formula Rebate Invoice) specifies the total number of Units of concentrated liquid, ready to feed, and powdered Contract Brand Infant Formulas,. Redeemed based on a determination of total eWIC transactions during the reporting month.

In addition, as Infant Formula Rebate Invoice (Invoice) support documentation, WIC Services’ MIS also creates an eWIC export file in a csv format. The eWIC export file contains, at a minimum, the following redemption information: eWIC transaction number, family ID, Participant Date of Birth, date the benefit was issued, first date the benefit can be used, last date the benefit can be used, the date the benefit was Redeemed, the benefit redemption amount, the description of the Contract Brand Infant Formula Redeemed, and the benefit Redeemed quantity.

Both the invoice and eWIC export file are provided to the Contractor as part of the monthly Rebate billing submission.

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