Modifications being made to WIC and SNAP benefits

By Kaye Collins

The South Carolina Department of Public Health announced that the Women, Infants and Children (WIC) Nutrition Program is modifying its milk purchase requirements to extend benefits to more families.

Starting on Monday, Dec. 8, officials indicated that WIC will exclusively cover store brand milk or the least expensive milk available. This adjustment pertains solely to milk purchases and does not affect infant formula.

Officials have stated that store brand milk offers the same nutritional value and quality as name brand options, but at a reduced cost, enabling WIC to provide greater benefits to families.

Stores have displayed notices on their doors to inform customers about the change regarding milk purchased with a eWIC card.

Other recent updates to the WIC program include Enhanced Food Benefits in June of 2024. They have increased fruit and vegetable amounts and broader food choices, including culturally diverse options.

Transitioning from paper vouchers to a single, PIN-secured debit card (eWIC) to facilitate shopping, enable automatic updates, and monitor benefits through a mobile application.

Visit the official South Carolina Department of Health (DPH) WIC website at https://dph.sc.gov/ to find the latest information and the Authorized Product List (APL)

These modifications align with the revised USDA guidelines (2020-2025) aimed at enhancing nutrition security for WIC participants.

SNAP Program modifications include the new work regulations for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) transforming the criteria for assistance in obtaining food particularly affecting child-free adults. These policy adjustments impose stricter requirements for “able-bodied” recipients and create more limited exemptions.

The fine print introduces a significant change regarding who is required to demonstrate their employment or training status. Lawmakers have incorporated stricter eligibility criteria for “able-bodied adults without child dependents” included in a broader spending bill, and these regulations now extend further into the group of child-free beneficiaries who depend on limited monthly assistance to purchase groceries. According to The ABAWD Work Requirement and Time Limit, individuals aged 18 to 54 who are capable of working and lack dependents are subject to time restrictions if they fail to fulfill work requirements must meet the 20-hour work or training minimum to keep benefits. State agencies are now racing to translate the federal categories into real-world decisions about who keeps benefits and who hits a time limit.

Guides aimed at recipients’ stress that work requirements for “able-bodied adults without dependents” just got stricter, even as exemptions remain for people who are currently pregnant, have certain health conditions or live with qualifying children. States like South Carolina are spelling out that the new standards apply upcoming requirements affecting ABAWD updated requirements for SNAP recipients, while also emphasizing that people who are physically or mentally unfit for employment can still be exempt. The result is a system where a doctor’s note, a pregnancy test or a child’s age can mean the difference between steady food assistance and a hard cutoff.

Federal implementation documents explain that the One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBB), introduced changes to the Exception for Children in the Household the OBBB, limiting the exception for a parent or other household member who lives with a child in the household under age 14. That means an adult living with a teenager over 13 may no longer be exempt, and a relative who is not formally recognized as a caregiver could still be treated as an ABAWD. For child-free adults who share housing with families, the shift can turn a previously exempt living arrangement into one that triggers work rules and time limits.

The implementation of stricter work regulations is intentional, significantly impacting how child-free adults perceive this transition. States are simultaneously eliminating the final aspects of pandemic-related flexibility while intensifying ABAWD enforcement, resulting in recipients losing both additional financial support and greater flexibility. For those who have depended on the program as a consistent element of their monthly finances, this change can feel like a double blow.

Effective on August 31, 2026, South Carolina’s SNAP program will undergo changes, as it has received USDA approval to limit benefits for purchasing candy, energy drinks, soft drinks, and other sugary beverages, promoting healthier options. This ‘light-touch’ policy, which was requested by Governor Henry McMaster, does not include items such as granola bars and natural juices but specifically targets sugary drinks that contain more than 5g of added sugar. Retailers will be impacted as they will need to update their systems to adhere to the new regulations.

Permitted items include granola bars, protein bars, cookies, crackers, muffins, pastries, and other baked goods. Natural fruit and vegetable juices are allowed. Coffee and tea are permitted unless they are heavily sweetened or processed.