Illinois Administrative Code › Title 77 - PUBLIC HEALTH › Part 672 - WIC VENDOR MANAGEMENT CODE › Subpart A - GENERAL PROVISIONS › Section 672.100 - Definitions

Current through Register Vol. 48, No. 28, July 12, 2024
"Act" means the WIC Vendor Management Act [410 ILCS
				  255 ].
"Administrative Law Judge" means any person appointed by the
				  Secretary to preside at an administrative hearing.
"Applicant" means the individual, partnership, limited
				  partnership, unincorporated association, limited liability company, or
				  corporation applying to be a WIC Retail Vendor.
"Application" means the application forms and other required
				  materials submitted by a business entity to notify the Department that the
				  business entity desires to become a WIC Retail Vendor.
"Approved Product List" or "APL" means a master UPC list that
				  the WIC EBT card is programmed to follow.
"Approved Source" means a wholesaler, retailer or
				  manufacturer of infant formula listed by the Department as an approved purchase
				  point for infant formula and WIC eligible nutritionals.
"Authorization" means the approval of an applicant who has
				  met the WIC Vendor criteria and possesses a properly executed, valid WIC Vendor
				  Contract as a WIC Retail Vendor.
"Balance Inquiry" means a type of transaction that allows WIC
				  Cardholders to identify the remaining benefits left on their card.
"Benefits" means the food, formula, and WIC eligible
				  nutritional item quantities that are loaded onto WIC Participant EBT
				  cards.
"Business Entity" means the retail business which an
				  applicant or authorized WIC Vendor operates at a particular Vendor Site.
"Civil Money Penalty" or "CMP" means a monetary fine that is
				  imposed upon non-compliant vendors in lieu of disqualification when the vendor
				  is necessary for adequate client access.
"Corporate Officer" means the identity of the officer of a
				  corporation as set forth in its Articles of Incorporation filed with the
				  Secretary of State of the state in which that entity is incorporated.
"Commodity Supplemental Food Program" or "CSFP" means a
				  federal food assistance program through which the Department or the
				  Department's Representative provides U.S. Government commodities to eligible
				  elderly.
"
Department" means the Illinois Department of Human
				  Services
. (Section 3(a) of the Act)
"Department Estimated Cost" means estimated prices that are
				  averaged and weighted by store type and region. The estimated prices are based
				  on indicators, including wholesale prices for WIC Foods and the self-reported
				  Vendor prices on the Vendor Retail Price Survey.
"Department Representative" means an employee or authorized
				  agent of the Department.
"Education Visit/Visit" means a survey of an applicant/Vendor
				  Site where the monitor and the designated store representative review the
				  criteria for authorization as a retail WIC Vendor.
"Electronic Benefit Transfer" or "EBT" means a method that
				  permits electronic access to WIC Food Benefits using a card approved by the
				  Secretary.
"Expired Food" means WIC approved infant formula available to
				  WIC Participants on a store shelf that exceeds the stamped "use before" date
				  printed on the food item.
"50% Vendor" means any Vendor that makes more than half of
				  its SNAP eligible sales from the sale of food items from the transaction of WIC
				  Food Benefits as defined in 7
				  CFR 246.2 (Above 50% Vendors). It includes
				  vendor applicants applying for an initial authorization who estimate that they
				  will make more than half of their SNAP eligible sales from the sale of food
				  items from the transaction of WIC Food Benefits.
"Fine" means an amount of money imposed as a penalty.
"Food Benefit" means a negotiable EBT card issued by a Local
				  Agency that specifies the quantity, size and type of authorized foods available
				  to a WIC Participant within a designated time period, which can subsequently be
				  taken to a Vendor in exchange for the specified quantities of food.
"Illinois eWIC" means a card with a magnetic strip that
				  contains WIC Food Benefits for a WIC household to purchase WIC-approved foods
				  at authorized WIC Retail Vendors using EBT.
"Integrated System" means a network of cash registers in a
				  store that is capable of processing WIC EBT transactions through a third-party
				  processor (TPP). Integrated cash registers must be able to provide a benefit
				  balance prior to WIC purchase and a receipt including the remaining monthly
				  benefit balance to WIC clients.
"Limited Liability Company" means a company organized and
				  existing under the Limited Liability Company Act [805 ILCS 180
				  ].
"Local Agency" means a public or private, non-profit health
				  or human services agency that provides health services, either directly or
				  through contract, in accordance with the USDA WIC Regulations, the Act, or this
				  Part.
"Minimum Supply of WIC Foods" means the Department published
				  list of the minimum required quantities, sizes, and types of WIC Foods that
				  must be maintained in stock at all times by a Vendor.
"Not-to-Exceed Price" or "NTE Price" means the maximum
				  allowable price that is established by peer group for most supplemental foods
				  sold by Vendors.
"Participant" means authorized pregnant women, breast feeding
				  women, postpartum women, infants or children who are receiving supplemental
				  foods or Food Benefits under the WIC Program.
"Participant Access" means the determination by the
				  Department of the availability of authorized Vendors within a geographic
				  area.
"Peer Group" means the classification of authorized Vendors
				  into groups based on common characteristics or criteria that affect food
				  prices, for the purpose of applying appropriate competitive price criteria to
				  Vendors at authorization and limiting payments for food to competitive
				  levels.
"Pharmacy" means any store, shop, department, or other place,
				  at a fixed and permanent location, having the capability to dispense and sell
				  or offer for sale at retail value by a licensed pharmacist drugs, medicines,
				  poisons, and liquid foods, prescribed for an individual by dentists,
				  veterinarians, and physicians licensed to practice medicine in all its
				  branches.
"Pharmacy Vendor" means any free-standing pharmacy that has
				  been authorized by the Department to accept Illinois eWIC as a WIC Retail
				  Vendor and to provide only infant formula and medical food to WIC Participants,
				  proxies of WIC Participants or Department representatives.
"Personal Identification Number" or "PIN" means the unique
				  number selected by WIC clients to authorize transactions on their WIC EBT
				  cards.
"Posted Shelf Price" means the displayed price of WIC Foods
				  charged to the general public, identifying the price of the specific WIC Food
				  item, including any sales price or discounts.
"Probation" means a period of time during which the Vendor
				  will be under increased scrutiny by the Department.
"Retail Vendor Price Survey" means the current prices,
				  reported to the Department, by a Vendor or a Department representative, as
				  charges for WIC Foods.
"Rural-Urban Commuting Area Code" or "RUCA" means a code
				  assigned by the USDA Economic Research Services (ERS) to determine the rural or
				  urban status of a postal ZIP Code.
"Secretary" means the Secretary of the Illinois Department of
				  Human Services or designee.
"SNAP Eligible Sales" means revenue from food that legally
				  may be purchased with the SNAP EBT Card.
"Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program" or "SNAP" means
				  the program funded by the USDA Food and Nutrition Service (FNS) to provide
				  nutrition assistance to low-income individuals and families.
"United States Department of Agriculture" or "USDA" means the
				  federal agency that oversees the Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) Program,
				  SNAP, and other food, nutrition, and agricultural programs that benefit
				  residents of the United States.
"Universal Product Code" or "UPC" means a 12- or 13-digit
				  code affixed, by barcode, to food, formula, and WIC eligible nutritional items.
				  The Illinois APL contains a comprehensive list of all WIC eligible UPCs and
				  permits WIC EBT transactions.
"USDA WIC Regulations" means the Regulations of the United
				  States Department of Agriculture, Food and Consumer Service, Special
				  Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (7 CFR 246
				  (1999)).
"Vendor" or "WIC Retail Vendor" means the individual,
				  partnership, limited partnership, unincorporated association, limited liability
				  company, or corporation authorized by the Department to accept Food Benefits
				  and to provide supplemental food to WIC Cardholders.
"Vendor Site" means a fixed and permanent location, operating
				  as a business entity, listed in the WIC Vendor application, that has been
				  authorized by the Department for purposes of delivery of WIC Foods to WIC
				  Cardholders.
"Violation" means an infringement of federal regulations as
				  defined in 7 CFR
				  246.2, or State rules or statutes, or local
				  laws.
"WIC Cardholder" means the person presenting a WIC EBT card
				  at the time of purchase and who is able to enter a correct PIN to complete a
				  WIC balance inquiry and/or sale.
"WIC Food Centers" are WIC food distribution sites through
				  which the Department or its representative provide the direct distribution of
				  WIC foods.
"WIC Food List" means the published list of the State of
				  Illinois authorized WIC Foods.
"WIC Foods" means those competitively priced foods that have
				  been placed on the WIC Food List and have been determined by the Department to
				  be nutritionally qualified for the WIC Program in the State of Illinois.
"WIC Participant" means a person receiving WIC benefits, who
				  may or may not also be a WIC Cardholder.
"WIC Retail Vendor Contract" means an agreement signed by the
				  WIC Retail Vendor and the Department for the provision of WIC Foods to
				  Participants, the Proxies of WIC Participants or Department Representatives. A
				  valid WIC Retail Vendor Contract is binding only between the Department and the
				  officer, partner or sole proprietor who originally signed the Vendor
				  Application. It authorizes the contractor to operate as a WIC Vendor.
"Women, Infants and Children Nutrition Program" or "WIC"
				  means the federal Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and
				  Children authorized by section 17 of the Child Nutrition Act of 1966, as
				  amended (42 USC
				  1786).