WIC program

Looking to the second problem, the administrators of the WIC program, believed that WIC only stores would contain the rising food costs thus containing the amount of money used from the grants it receives from the federal Treasury, which would allow the program to help more clients. Since these stores operate outside the regular retail market, they tend to have higher shelf prices than regular competitive stores.

WIC participants rarely, if ever, shop around for the cheapest prices on these food items as they receive the same food items every month regardless of the price charged for these foods so they are not price-sensitive to the amounts that stores charge for WIC food items (Neuberger, Z. , Greenstein, R. , 2004). WIC participants seem to prefer to spend their vouchers in these stores, because they can get into and out of the stores quickly without having to stand in long lines like at supermarkets (Scribd. com 2005).

The stores are usually small, are customer friendly and the service they receive from the store associates is usually excellent when compared to the service they received at grocery stores. They’re seen as the equivalent of convenience stores, and charge accordingly. This increase spending means that the state does not have to return its excess funds to Washington, because it does not have any, while the states who do not have any specialty stores are required to return the unused portion of the federal subsidy to Washington so the amounts can be reallocated to other states that are asking for more funding.

The program is working so well, say administrators, that 97 percent of the federal funds are spent at stores that accept the vouchers, so no money goes back to Washington to help any other locality (Andrews, B. 2003). The third issue is the fact that for the first time in almost twenty years the USDA has changed the guidelines. Many nutritional experts, believe the 1992 pyramid does not reflect the latest research on dietetics. Some of the choices on the food pyramid were shown to possible cause medical problems in people.

With these changes to the nutrition guidelines, came changes to the foods allowed on WIC and the reasons behind the change. Many believe the changes came about because of outside pressure, and not from strictly dietetic reasoning. All one has to do is look at infant formula that is provided by WIC. WIC provides vouchers for the purchase of infant formula. The formula used is picked by a competitive bidding system that reduces federal costs by approximately $2 billion annually.

At least ten states so far this year have entered into a new contract for infant formula, and these costs have increased as a result of receiving a smaller discounts and higher infant formula prices, which will raise program costs and thereby reduce the number of people WIC can serve. One must also remember that not all infant formula is the same or carries the same ingredients. What may be fine for one baby may not be right for another. The new guidelines also attempt to encourage mothers to breastfeed exclusively for the first six months and disallow infant cereal or baby food for the first six months (Woods-Harris, S. 2009). 

This is a big change from the original WIC offering. Some babies actually do better if started on rice cereal at 4-5 months. One must also remember that breastfeeding is not an option for adoptive parents, so they are put back on the old toyota's competitors, meaning they are treating families differently. Recommendations The country will be cutting costs across the board and every agency will have less to use. But one wonders why the government cannot ensure that this program is not cut. It has a proven track record and the children it helps today, means less drain on the Medicare and Medicaid roles tomorrow.

This country needs to look at the budget and see where else the money can be cut. We cannot allow the children in this country to go hungry. Another recommendation would be to stop putting quarts of milk on WIC vouchers. The cost per an ounce of milk goes up dramatically when you start buying it in smaller containers. The cheapest way to buy milk is by the gallon, and unless it is a family of one, only gallons should be allowed. Another way to save money would be to remove any name brand cereals from the WIC approved food list if a similar cereal is available in store brand.

The same can be true of any food items on a WIC voucher. The clients should be buying the cheapest item available, in every food category. When looking at WIC only stores, one would say they are not needed. Many of these stores are run by larger grocery chains, but open these markets to increase profits they lose when one shops at the grocery storee instead of the WIC only store. The first way to improve this service would be to enforcing the law regarding what WIC vouchers are supposed to be used for. A WIC store does not need to attract additional WIC participants by offering incentives for shopping there.

Allowing customers to receive free diapers, strollers, bicycles and other non-food items, demeans the program. Since the owners of these stores are using the profit they garner from the WIC sales, they are, in essence, illegally using these federal WIC funds, and forcing other states to turn clients away, because they will not reallocate the funds as they are required to do. If the share of WIC sales that occurs in WIC-only stores continues to grow, the program will require substantially larger federal appropriations that will either expand the deficit or take funds from other worthy discretionary programs.