Three New England states are moving toward what will likely be a hybrid smart card-with both a chip and a magnetic stripe-for administering federal benefits.
Maine, New Hampshire, and Vermont hope their experiment will demonstrate a way governments can overcome administrative differences while achieving the goal of using cards for electronic benefits transfer.
Two states-Ohio and Wyoming-are testing chip cards without magnetic stripes for delivery of benefits, and two multistate coalitions-the Southern Alliance of States and the Northeast Coalition of States-are working on benefits transfer systems that use magnetic stripe cards.
The northern New England states say they would be the first to pilot- test a hybrid card, which has the advantage of being able to process transactions both on- and off-line.
"We're a little bit ahead of the rest of them in terms of where we are going," said Mark Byron, chairman of the EBT technology committee of the National Association of WIC Directors. (WIC-an acronym for women, infants, and children-is a federal nutrition program.)
Mr. Byron is also director of the WIC program in Maine, the lead state in the New England partnership.
The states will begin a pilot of the project, dubbed Partners, in early 1998. The goal is a system that can deliver a variety of benefits and perform other functions, like keeping track of recipients' appointments with relief agencies and maintaining health records.
For instance, a single card might hold a client's immunization history, a record of appointments with Head Start counselors, and prescriptions. It could track referrals, such as from WIC to Head Start. And it could be used at the point of sale to spend benefit money.
Developers from New England visited Ohio and Wyoming to view the smart card trials there but said they did not answer their questions about how to blend the different administrative procedures used in each state.
Mr. Byron said Maine uses a retail distribution system for WIC benefits, while New Hampshire uses a voucher system and Vermont has a home delivery system.
"We felt that we have three very distinct delivery systems in the three contiguous states," Mr. Byron said. Bridging the differences would have "importance throughout the country."
Benefit recipients will have full access to the information contained on the card, which will be safeguarded with a personal identification number. Only agencies that have a need for a specific program's data will be allowed access to it.
"The advantage of the smart card is that the client actually controls the card," said Arthur W. Burger, president of Burger, Carroll and Associates. Mr. Burger is a Santa Fe, N.M., technology consultant who has been helping the New England states.
The program has been developed over two years with funding from the U.S. Department of Agriculture, which was looking for a program that did not repeat others' experiences. The three states have received nearly 15% of the $1 million to $1.5 million granted by the USDA, organizers said, and they plan to raise additional money from the private sector.
Before embarking on the project, the three states intended to piggyback WIC and other service programs on a food stamp card. That plan dissolved when New England joined New York to create the Northeast Coalition for electronic benefits transfer.
The Northeast Coalition will have a separate card, according to Mr. Burger. The benefits that will be conveyed through the Northeast Coalition overlap very little with those targeted by the three-state partnership, he said.
The WIC directors' hope is to "marry the funds transfer and the health record," Mr. Byron said.
One question mark has been whether retailers have the necessary card- reading equipment.
Some do, said John Dumais, a project adviser who is president and chief executive officer of the New Hampshire Grocers' Association. He said his group's concern that stores would need a second point of sale machine have faded as large retailers have begun to receive new machines.
The association does want to make sure that smaller grocers can participate by retrofitting older machines, Mr. Dumais said.
Grocers would benefit from the new system, he said, because smart card technology would trim what is typically a 30-day reimbursement delay in New Hampshire. Because the card would work across state lines, residents of border towns could easily shop at the stores of their choice, he said.
