Project UP: WIC and Medicaid Resources | Center on Budget and Policy Priorities

Project UP: Unlocking the Potential of WIC and Medicaid to Improve Nutrition and Health

In early 2024, the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities (CBPP) launched Project UP — Unlocking the Potential of WIC and Medicaid to Improve Nutrition and Health — to promote Medicaid and WIC policies designed to increase WIC enrollment. The project will support state-level advocacy to increase WIC take-up, identify and share promising practices with national groups and state stakeholders, and publish resources on promising strategies.

Learn more about Project UP in our one-pager or recent webinar.

Intro to WIC

Intro to Medicaid

CBPP
Policy Basics: Introduction to Medicaid
MAPCAC
Medicaid Eligibility 101
MACPAC
Medicaid Eligibility for Pregnant People
MACPAC
Medicaid Eligibility for Low-Income Children
Georgetown CCF
Promoting Young Children’s Healthy Development in Medicaid and CHIP
Georgetown CCF
Maternal and Early Childhood Health Work
Georgetown CCF
Opportunities to Support Maternal and Child Health Through Medicaid's New Postpartum Extension
The Commonwealth Fund
The Road to Maternal Health Runs Through Medicaid Managed Care

WIC effectiveness research

CBPP
WIC Works: Addressing the Nutrition and Health Needs of Low-Income Families for More Than Four Decades
USDA
Reviewing the Evidence for Maternal Health and WIC
Report to Congress
USDA and AHRQ
Maternal and Childhood Outcomes Associated with WIC
NWA
WIC Hub
USDA
WIC-Related Studies and Reports

WIC certification streamlining

CBPP
State WIC Agencies Continue to Use Federal Flexibility to Streamline Enrollment
Compilation of state WIC certification streamlining policies
CBPP
Assessing Your WIC Certification Practices
WIC certification streamlining toolkit
CBPP
Streamlining and Modernizing WIC Enrollment
WIC certification streamlining case studies
USDA
WIC Policy Memo #2023-6: Streamlining Certification Documentation Guidance
USDA
WIC Certification and Eligibility Resource and Best Practices Guide

Health and nutrition outcomes

CDC
Births in the United States
CDC
Infant Mortality in the United States
CDC
Low Birthweight in the United States
CDC
Maternal Mortality in the United States (2021)
KFF
State Health Facts: Health Status
Summarizes health metrics including births, low birthweight, infant mortality, and maternal mortality
KFF
Births Financed by Medicaid
The Commonwealth Fund
The U.S. Maternal Mortality Crisis Continues to Worsen: An International Comparison
National Governors Association
Tackling The Maternal And Infant Health Crisis: A Governor’s Playbook
USDA
Household Food Security in the United States in 2022

Health-related social needs

CBPP
States Can Use Medicaid to Help Address Health-Related Social Needs | Blog
State Health & Value Strategies
Addressing Health-Related Social Needs Through Medicaid Managed Care
Toolkit with state examples
Center for Health Care Strategies
Expanding the Menu: Opportunities for Medicaid to Better Address Food Insecurity
Center for Health Law and Policy Innovation
Food is Medicine Project
Center for Health Law and Policy Innovation
The evolution and scope of Medicaid Section 1115 demonstrations to address nutrition: a US survey
In partnership with Tufts University Food is Medicine Institute and University of Massachusetts Medical School Department of Population Health and Quantitative Sciences
Georgetown CCF
State Use of Section 1115 Demonstrations to Support the Health-Related Social Needs of Pregnant and Postpartum Women, Infants, and Young Children
National Health Law Program
Doula Medicaid Project
CMS
State Waivers List: Section 1115 Demonstrations
CMS
Coverage of Health-Related Social Needs (HRSN) Services in Medicaid and the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP)
HHS
HHS Call to Action: Addressing Health-Related Social Needs in Communities Across the Nation
White House
The U.S. Playbook to Address Social Determinants of Health
White House
Biden-Harris Administration National Strategy on Hunger, Nutrition, and Health
White House
White House Blueprint for Addressing the Maternal Health Crisis

Cross program collaboration

WIC data

USDA
National and State Level Estimates of WIC Eligibility and Program Reach in 2021
USDA
WIC Participant and Program Characteristics 2022
USDA
WIC Data Tables
Administrative program data

Medicaid data