# Plain Language Summary: MODERN WIC Act of 2025

The WIC program (Women, Infants, and Children) helps low-income pregnant women, new mothers, and young children get nutritious food. Right now, people applying for WIC or renewing their benefits usually have to show up in person at a local office. This bill changes that by allowing states to offer appointments through phone calls, video calls, or other two-way communication methods instead. So if you're applying for WIC, you could potentially do your entire certification appointment from home on your phone or computer rather than taking time off work or arranging childcare to visit an office in person.

The bill also makes it easier to get your WIC benefits once you're approved. Currently, states can mail out WIC vouchers or have people pick them up in person. This bill expands those options to include electronic delivery methods and other remote ways of getting your benefits to you. It also requires that all these remote options be accessible to people with disabilities, following federal accessibility laws. Additionally, if someone qualifies based on income but hasn't completed their full nutritional evaluation yet, they can start using their benefits right away while the state completes the evaluation within 90 days, rather than waiting for all the paperwork to finish first.

The practical effect is that WIC could become more convenient and accessible, especially for working parents, people without reliable transportation, or those living in rural areas far from WIC offices. However, the bill does require that if someone gets certified remotely, the state must collect certain health measurements (like height and weight) within 90 days to confirm they actually qualify based on nutritional need. If that doesn't happen or if they don't meet the nutritional criteria, their benefits would end. The bill also asks the federal government to study how well these remote options work and report back to Congress within a year.

MODERN WIC Act of 2025

Fitzpatrick, Brian K.

More Options to Develop and Enhance Remote Nutrition in WIC Act of 2025 or the MODERN&nbsp;WIC Act of 2025This bill permanently allows individuals to remotely certify their eligibility for, and receive benefits through, the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC).Specifically, the bill requires that a state agency allow&nbsp;an individual seeking a WIC certification, recertification, or a nutritional risk evaluation to do so by phone or through video teleconference, in addition to the in-person option.A state agency has 90 days to collect data for a nutritional risk evaluation&nbsp;for a remotely certified individual. Further, a&nbsp;state agency may consider an applicant who meets the income eligibility standards to be&nbsp;temporarily eligible on an interim basis&nbsp;to participate in the program and may certify the individual for immediate participation without waiting for a nutritional risk evaluation.The bill also allows states to provide benefits on WIC electronic benefit transfer cards through mail or remote issuance instead of requiring participants to pick up or reload benefits in person at a WIC office.Further, the Department of Agriculture must report to Congress about the use of remote technologies and other digital tools in the WIC program.Currently, individuals are generally required to be physically present to certify their WIC eligibility and receive benefits, with exceptions. The Food and Nutrition Service&nbsp; has temporarily waived these requirements and allowed remote certification and benefits using authorities that were provided by laws that were enacted to address&nbsp;COVID-19.