WIC for Healthcare Providers

Partnerships with Medical Providers are critical to the success of the WIC Program. The Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children is a nutrition assistance program created to safeguard the health of low-income women, infants, and children up to age 5. WIC participants must have a nutritional risk to be eligible. WIC staff conduct a nutritional assessment and provide relevant nutrition and health education, referrals to health care and social service programs and prescribe checks for nutritious foods to supplement participant diets.

We hope this Healthcare Providers page helps you better understand the New Hampshire WIC Program and will improve coordination of your patients’ care with our nutrition staff at the local WIC agency.

A series of WIC Healthcare Provider Fact Sheets about the program were developed to answer common questions health care providers may have about WIC:

• WIC Basics for Healthcare Providers Fact Sheet
• Healthy WIC Foods
• WIC Anthros & Hemo Fact Sheet
• WIC Breastfeeding Support Food Package Fact Sheet

WIC Infant Formula contract – effective October 1, 2016

In order to contain program costs, the WIC Program is required to bid for standard infant formula.

Effective October 1, 2016, the New Hampshire WIC Program provides Abbott Laboratories® Similac® Advance®, Similac® Isomil® Soy, Similac Sensitive®, or Similac Total Comfort® for healthy infants from birth to twelve months of age; whose mothers choose not to breastfeed or partially breastfeed or for whom breastfeeding is medically contraindicated.

For those participants with an appropriate and documented nutrition-related ICD-10 code medical diagnosis, WIC provides special/exempt formulas, such as hypoallergenic, hyper caloric, elemental, and metabolic formulas.

For more information on WIC’s current infant formula contract effective October 1, 2016, please see the following documents:

• WIC Formula Foods Documentation Quick Guide
• NH WIC Formulas/Food Detailed Overview
• Approved NH WIC Formulary

Although small differences in protein, fat, and carbohydrate exist among all standard formulas, there are no medically proven advantages of any particular brand name formula over another. While parents/guardians or health care providers may have a personal preference for a particular brand of formula, funding constraints and WIC regulations limit the issuance of non-contract, special/exempt formulas only to participants with qualifying or serious medical conditions.

Health care providers are invited to contact the State WIC Agency at (800) 942-4321 to request copies of WIC outreach, nutrition, and breastfeeding printed materials or to request an in-service for office, clinic, or hospital staff.