Overview
- A Government Accountability Office analysis released in July 2026 found that the raw number of Amazon employees on SNAP and Medicaid nearly tripled between early 2020 and September 2025 in the 11 states studied.
- App-based drivers for Uber, Lyft, DoorDash, GrubHub and Instacart are now the largest occupational group receiving SNAP and rank among the top three for Medicaid in those states.
- The GAO used Census and employer data from Arkansas, Georgia, Indiana, Maine, Massachusetts, Nebraska, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Rhode Island, Tennessee, and Washington and reported roughly 13.8 million working adults on Medicaid and 10.6 million on SNAP in 2024 in those states.
- Amazon and gig-industry groups said the report is misleading because it uses raw counts rather than percentages and noted part-time roles and company benefits when defending employment practices.
- The findings intersect with the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, which raised SNAP work requirements to 80 hours a month and creates a federal Medicaid work mandate starting in January, a change that could strip benefits from many working people and push states to adopt measures such as employer assessments to cover rising costs.