Illinois WIC Vendor Notice 22-04
TO: Illinois WIC Vendors
FROM: Stephanie Bess, M.S., R.D., LDN
Chief, Bureau of Family Nutrition
SUBJECT: Temporary Increase in Cash-Value Benefit Extended
DATE: March 18, 2022
On March 15, 2022, President Biden signed the Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2022 (P.L. 117-103, the Act) into law. Section 787 of the Act directs USDA to extend the temporary increase in the WIC Cash-Value Benefit (CVB) for fruit and vegetable benefits issued through September 30, 2022. As a result, the Illinois WIC Program will continue to increase the dollar value of the fruit and vegetable benefits provided to WIC participants. This increase in benefits applies to all fresh, frozen and canned CVB items. The monthly CVB amounts will continue to be increased at the following levels:
- $24 for children,
- $43 for pregnant & postpartum participants, and
- $47 for breastfeeding participants.
- Infant Fresh Produce $4 CVB benefits will not be adjusted as part of this increase.
The rise in demand for fresh fruits and vegetables increases the importance of making sure all integrated cash register systems correctly map all their fresh produce UPCs to corresponding PLUs that are recognized as WIC eligible. Mapping is critical for store cut and wrapped produce which have store generated UPCs which are not recognized by the WIC Approved Products List (APL). UPCs for fresh produce items frequently change and UPCs not in the WIC Approved Products List (APL) are denied. Please assist WIC families purchasing fresh produce with UPCs by mapping any new products received. Contact your cash register system's provider to assist with mapping concerns.
Vendors that are using Solutran-provided point-of-sale (POS) machines will need to manually enter a PLU code when WIC EBT customers purchase fresh produce. If you know the PLU for a particular product, you can enter the PLU manually in the POS. If you do not know the exact PLU, please manually enter 4469.
Please direct any questions you may have regarding this matter to the Vendor Relations Unit at DHS.WICVendor@illinois.gov or 844-901-0962.
