James M. Jeffords: “I rise today to highlight a provision in the agriculture appropriations bill that I think makes an important improvement…”

“I rise today to highlight a provision in the agriculture appropriations bill that I think makes an important improvement to the WIC Program. I want to highlight the importance of this provision with hope that we can maintain it in the conference committee. The WIC infant formula cost containment program saves more than $1 billion a year in Federal funds and allows over 1.6 million more women, infants, and children to be served through WIC each month than would otherwise be the case. Nearly one of every four WIC participants is served with cost containment savings and would have to be removed from the program if cost containment collapsed. There is a danger now developing that threatens to undermine WIC cost containment and we need Federal action to counteract this development. In the past, States typically awarded their WIC contract to the company whose net wholesale price is the lowest. The net wholesale price represents the wholesale price of the product minus the rebate per can the manufacturer will pay the State WIC program. Recently, though, States have begun to award their WIC contracts to the company that offered the highest rebate per can, regardless of the company's wholesale price. A provision contained in this bill requires that States award contracts on the basis of the lowest net wholesale price-- as most States currently do--rather than on the basis of the biggest rebate.”