Science & Technology
Science and Technology
Science and Technology
Mon, February 9, 2009 ACS Innovation Helps Michigan Implement First-of-Its-Kind Online System for Women, Infants, and Children Benefits
DALLAS--([ BUSINESS WIRE ])--[ Affiliated Computer Services, Inc. ] (NYSE: ACS) today announced it has implemented the first real-time, online system to provide electronic benefits transfers (EBT) for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) benefits in the state of Michigan.
WIC provides nutritious foods and nutrition education for approximately one out of every two infants born in Michigan. Participating families now can make WIC purchases with an EBT card, offering improved convenience, flexibility and security over traditional WIC paper coupons. Nearly 2,000 vendors statewide equipped to accept the card also will benefit from increased efficiency and reduced errors. An ACS customer care center located in Michigan provides 24/7 support in three languages (English, Spanish and Arabic) for vendors and participants.
ACS was awarded a five-year competitively bid contract in 2005 to work with the state of Michigan for the design and full implementation of the first-of-its-kind system, which has been successfully operating in a pilot phase in Jackson County since March 2007. ACS and Michigan started a statewide deployment of equipment and training in January 2008.
The state also benefits by taking advantage of an ACS EBT solution for the delivery of food stamp and cash benefits.
"This is a great example of ACS innovation and our ability to work closely with state agencies to understand their unique needs," said [ Joe Doherty ], executive vice president and group president of [ ACS Government Solutions ]. "We're proud to be a partner with a state that has proven itself ahead of the curve in finding creative and effective ways to help its citizens."
As the largest provider of business process solutions and one of the largest IT service providers to the nation's public sector, ACS serves as an operational partner to more than 1,700 government agencies on the federal, state, county and local level.
The work of ACS touches millions of people every day. ACS processes more than half of the nation's child support payments; manages 20 electronic payment card programs for state and federal clients, disbursing government payments and benefits; processes nearly 375 million Medicaid claims each year totaling more than $39 billion in payments; services student loans for more than 10 million borrowers; and facilitates more than 75 million online searches for unclaimed property per year.
About ACS
ACS, a global FORTUNE 500 company with approximately 70,000 people supporting client operations reaching more than 100 countries, provides business process outsourcing and information technology solutions to world-class commercial and government clients. The company's Class A common stock trades on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol "ACS." Learn more by visiting [ www.acs-inc.com ].
