WIC and Medicaid / HUSKY A share the same income-eligibility criteria and provide complementary services for low-income pregnant women.

In 1989, WIC instituted "adjunctive eligibility", a policy which enables WIC applicants to show proof of participation in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), the Temporary Assistance to Needy Families program (TANF) or the Medicaid program, and be automatically considered “income-eligible” for WIC. This change in policy greatly facilitates the ease of referral and counter-referral between the WIC and HUSKY A programs, and thereby, obtaining early and adequate prenatal care for low-income pregnant women.

According to a study by the American Dietetic Association, "women who received Medicaid benefits and prenatal WIC services had substantially lower rates of low and very low birth weight [babies] than did women who received Medicaid but not prenatal WIC. Among white women, the rate of low birth weight (LBW) was 22% lower for WIC participants and the rate of very low birth weight (VLBW) was 44% lower; among black women, these rates were 31% and 57% lower, respectively.... Multivariate logistic regression analysis confirmed that prenatal participation in a WIC program reduced the rate of LBW. It was estimated that for each $1.00 spent on WIC services, Medicaid savings in costs for newborn medical care were $2.91. A higher level of WIC participation was associated with better birth outcomes and lower costs. These results indicate that prenatal WIC participation can effectively reduce low birth weight and newborn medical care costs among infants born to women in poverty." [1] (For more information on WIC as a cost-effective investment that improves the nutrition and health of low-income families, see the May 2015 article published by the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, WIC Works.)

WIC data indicate that co-enrollment is running at about 84% during the current fiscal year. WIC will continue to track and monitor this figure quarterly, in order to better identify those factors which may be associated with non-enrollment, and target outreach efforts accordingly.

[1] J Am Diet Assoc. Prenatal WIC participation can reduce low birth weight and newborn medical costs. 2001 Sep; 101(9):997.

These data are current as of June 2016.  Since that time, CT WIC has not had access to enrollment data from the CT Department of Social Services (DSS) in order to continue to make these comparisons.

Primary role: referrals / counter-referrals between WIC and HUSKY A.

Principal partners:
- Local hospitals, clinics and health care providers, including DSS (CT Department of Social Services - Medicaid / HUSKY A), community health centers (CHCs), school-based health centers (SBHCs), and federally qualified health centers (FQHCs);
- Current and former WIC participants and their friends, family, neighbors and faith communities;
- Other local health- and social-service programs that serve the low-income population.

CT WIC will continue to monitor co-enrollment in the WIC / HUSKY A programs.  By mapping and tracking the location of those participants who are enrolled in only one of these programs, staff can tailor outreach efforts to better focus on those geographic areas and populations of greatest need and of greatest potential impact.

WIC knows from its own nationwide experience that its newly instituted EBT (Electronic Benefit Transfer) cards, long used by SNAP, are far more attractive to its participants than the previously used paper vouchers (WIC "checks").  WIC also knows that the current generation of participants relies heavily on social media for information.  Both of these preferences have been addressed through updating CT WIC's Management Information System (MIS) with EBT capability, as well as the capability to send text messages to those participants with cell phones; those with only a landline will continue to receive verbal telephone messages.

State WIC Agency:
- Monitor co-enrollment by participant category (women, infants & children), town of residence, and race / ethnicity categories. Ongoing.

- Ensure local staff are as linguistically and culturally representative as possible of the population they serve. Monitor annually.

State & Local WIC Agencies:

- Update social media strategies, and participant training/educational methodologies.

- Survey participants who are not currently co-enrolled to identify reason(s); implement new/revised inter-agency coordination strategies, based on survey results.

- Implement WIC's new EBT cards. [Done.]