Food Assistance: Information on WIC Sole-Source Rebates and Infant Formula Prices

Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO provided information on several issues related to Special Supplemental Food Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) rebates for infant formula, focusing on: (1) how prices in the infant formula market changed for non-WIC purchasers and WIC agencies after the introduction of sole-source rebates; (2) how key characteristics of the infant formula market may contribute to the size of rebates offered by the manufacturers; (3) whether there is any evidence indicating that non-WIC purchasers of infant formula subsidized WIC purchases through the prices they paid; and (4) whether the significant cost savings WIC agencies have achieved by using sole-source rebates for infant formula have implications for other WIC products.