US (Puerto Rico): PAN beneficiaries will be able to use the card to purchase food online

The beneficiaries of the Nutritional Assistance Program (PAN) will be able to make their purchases completely online from home through a pilot project approved by the federal government, Governor Wanda Vázquez Garced and the Secretary of the Department of the Family, Orlando López Belmonte.

The first executive in a statement said, the efforts made by the government and the Department of the Family to deal with the situation caused by COVID-19 and reduce its impact on the population it serves continue to bear fruit.

López Belmonte explained that the pilot project will begin in December when the certification period for eligible businesses begins. This is possible after the government received authorization to join the states that already use this technological mechanism and thus it will be contained in the State Plan approved for Puerto Rico at the end of last October.

Officials said, while it is true that the situation in Puerto Rico and the world after the arrival of Covid-19 requires that people take the necessary measures to protect themselves, it is also important that they have the appropriate tools to minimize the risks to that expose themselves while attending to their daily needs assuring that many of the agency's efforts have been directed in this direction during these past months.

Meanwhile, the administrator of the Administration of Socioeconomic Development of the Family (ADSEF), Alberto Fradera Vázquez, highlighted the benefits of this expansion of services that aims to provide equal treatment to PAN participants in the purchase of groceries and reduce the Departures of program participants to minimize the chances of contagion with Covid-19. The administrator highlighted that, as of November 2020, over 300 thousand older adults participate in the PAN program.

Fradera Vázquez said, currently many businesses have online shopping available. However, to complete the process of picking up and / or paying for your groceries, some kind of direct interaction with the store is necessary. What is significant about this change is that as of the implementation of this program, this contact will not be necessary, since the process will be similar to that used with any credit or debit card.

The administrator pointed out that the only part not authorized to be paid with PAN funds is delivery.

The official explained that next week they will discuss with members of the professional organization that represents the food sector, the Chamber of Marketing, Industry and Food Distribution (MIDA), to discuss the details of the pilot project and direct compliance processes, technology necessary and certification.

The online shopping pilot project started in April 2019 in New York State. As of March 2020, they approved the start of the project in the states of Alabama, Iowa, and Oregon. In April it expanded to Nebraska. As of October 2020, some 47 states have started the pilot project. Puerto Rico is the first territory to obtain approval for the online shopping project.

Both Family officials reiterated the agency's commitment to continue identifying and working on initiatives such as this one that have a positive impact on the population of the Department of the Family. Currently, some 840,647 families participate in the Nutrition Assistance Program, of which 225,677 have entered the program as of April 2020.