LINCOLN — Nebraska Auditor Mike Foley highlighted deficiencies in the state’s implementation of the Women, Infants and Children (WIC) Program in a Tuesday report, noting multiple beneficiaries that exceeded the income threshold for eligibility.
WIC is a federal program that offers food assistance to low-income women and children, often in the form of electronic benefits transfer (EBT) cards. Eligible participants must have a family income below the threshold set by the state Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS), or be enrolled in another federal program like Medicaid, among other criteria.
Foley said he decided to take a deeper look at Nebraska’s WIC program after conducting a review of all federal assistance programs within the state. He said he wasn’t looking specifically at WIC, but in doing the review, discovered several households in “high-income areas” that participated in the program.
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In the audit, Foley found several cases of individuals benefiting from the program despite their annual income exceeding the DHHS threshold. This included 11 state employees and one University of Nebraska employee, all of whom were receiving WIC benefits despite each earning more than $60,000 per year.
“Allowing people of obvious means to infiltrate a program, like WIC, aimed at helping our low-income citizens is simply wrong,” Foley wrote in a press release about the audit.
According to DHHS’ website, the income threshold to be eligible for WIC benefits is scaled based on family size, ranging from a maximum of about $29,000 per year for a family of one person, to $92,000 per year for a family of seven people.
In one example, Foley highlighted an internal auditor working for a separate agency, who combined with their spouse who also works for the state, earns more than $138,000 per year. Foley noted that this employee was eligible for Medicaid, which was why they qualified for WIC benefits.
Medicaid eligibility is largely determined by a family’s household income, size, and disability status.
In the department’s response to the audit, DHHS officials disagreed with Foley’s argument that the state lacked internal controls regarding WIC eligibility. The department noted that 10 of the 12 public employees Foley mentioned were enrolled in Medicaid.
Foley recommended DHHS strengthen its procedures to verify participants’ incomes, and ensure WIC benefits are offered only to applicants “who have a true need for them.”
“Medicaid eligibility may open the door to other programs,” Foley wrote. “But ongoing work is needed to determine whether it should remain ajar.”
Foley’s report listed seven examples of WIC participants living in homes with an assessed value over $500,000.
In one example, a family’s children qualified for WIC benefits due to their enrollment in Medicaid, but were removed from Medicaid within weeks of being deemed eligible for WIC. Despite this, the children continued to receive WIC benefits for just over a year, with food purchases totaling $1,534 during that time.
“Having a safety net to help the truly needy is one thing,” Foley wrote. “But when Nebraskans who own half-million-dollar homes and boast annual incomes in excess of $100,000 are able to receive many thousands of dollars of free benefits intended for the poor, it’s time to blow the whistle on this insult to our hard-working, over-taxed citizens.”
Additionally, Foley criticized DHHS’ process for investigating suspected fraud among WIC participants, stating that it’s not thorough enough. In 2025, the department investigated five complaints of potential fraud, but Foley said two of the investigations were not adequately completed.
In both cases, participants were accused of attempting to sell food possibly purchased through WIC benefits on Facebook. Foley highlighted that selling WIC benefits is considered a violation under the program.
DHHS officials said that due to changing federal guidelines, neither participant would qualify for mandatory disqualification. However, the department “partially agreed” that its investigation procedures could improve, and said officials would update the policy and send it to the federal Food and Nutrition Administration for approval.
Foley expressed dissatisfaction in DHHS’ response to his findings, writing that their response amounted to little more than: “Nothing to see here, it’s all legal.”
“Even with the legal pathways, this defies commonsense,” Foley said.
State Sen. Ben Hansen of Blair, former chair of the Nebraska Legislature’s Health and Human Services Committee, said while he isn’t sure the examples Foley noted constitute waste, fraud or abuse of WIC, he agreed that the income levels of some of the participants listed exceed what most taxpayers expect in how federal assistance is being distributed.
“It never hurts to take a close look at who is receiving these kinds of benefits,” Hansen said.
This story is provided by States Newsroom, a nonprofit state news network and Blox Digital content partner.
This story is provided by States Newsroom, a nonprofit state news network and Blox Digital content partner.
This story is provided by States Newsroom, a nonprofit state news network and Blox Digital content partner.
This story is provided by States Newsroom, a nonprofit state news network and Blox Digital content partner.
