Pay Now and Save on Medical Costs Later : * County Needs Help to Avoid Cuts in Nutrition Program for Women and Children

It’s sometimes hard to see the long-term effects of various government programs, but with the Women, Infants and Children program, the benefits extend well beyond the immediate provision of needed food and infant formula. It has been proven that, by providing poor mothers and their babies and children with essential nutrition, government can avoid future medical costs. According to a recent U.S. Department of Agriculture study, the WIC program saves from $1.92 to $4.21 for every dollar it expends. That makes it all the harder to understand why Orange County is having to drop 3,400 needy infants from the program by the end of February.

So far, Orange County is alone in the state in having to withdraw WIC eligibility to infants. The reasons are complicated, but it comes down to the fact that the number of women and children needing nutritional assistance has grown faster here than in other parts of California.

As the 1990 Census revealed, the county’s Asian and Latino populations have increased dramatically and, with them, the need for programs such as WIC. Federal funding has increased, but not nearly to the level that is now needed. As a result, to serve pregnant women and nursing mothers, the county is faced with having to cut its caseload of infants. For now, at least, other counties are able to serve infants and children.

In order to even things out, the statewide WIC office, which coordinates federal grants, would have to take money away from other counties. That’s not an easy task, especially when other counties already fall far short of what they need. Still, an equity adjustment must be made somehow. At the very least, the state must devote any new federal dollars to Orange and other counties facing similar funding inequities.

Also needed is assistance from Orange County’s congressional delegation, which could do a much better job of putting pressure on the federal government to increase funding to California. They have two good arguments: equity and cost effectiveness. On the fairness issue, local representatives need only reiterate that while 55% of those eligible for WIC are served in the United States, only 37% who are eligible receive services in California, and only 30% in Orange County. As for cost effectiveness, they need only quote the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s own study.

Somehow, logic must prevail. Humanitarian reasons should be enough, but WIC also has proven that by spending a dollar it can save the government several.