Participants in the Louisiana Women, Infants and Children program may begin using their new EBT cards tomorrow. Leslie Lewis, the nutrition operations manager at the Louisiana Department of Health, says these cards are different from the old cards that had to have benefits loaded in person every three months.
“With the new card, they are what’s called ‘online technology,’ and benefits can now be loaded remotely,” Lewis explained.
Lewis says that means in most cases, participants will not have to visit clinics nearly as often beyond the initial appointment in which they obtain their cards.
“For those enrolled, it’s just on a standard formula; essentially, they would have to come in just yearly,” Lewis said.
Lewis says the new cards help the Department of Health modernize the whole system.
“Their second and third appointments can be done remotely, assuming they are still doing their nutrition education, which is also a federal requirement,” Lewis noted.
Participants will need to choose a PIN before using their new cards; they may do so by calling the number on the back of the card or by using the myWIC app.
Comments