Millions of adults who had jobs still relied on Medicaid or federal food assistance in 2024, according to a new Government Accountability Office review that examined the overlap between employment and public benefits.
The GAO estimated that 13.8 million working adults were enrolled in Medicaid and 10.6 million working adults lived in households receiving benefits from the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, commonly called SNAP. About two-thirds of the working adults in each group reported working full time.
Transportation, food preparation and service, restaurants and retail were among the prominent industries represented. The figures show that employment alone does not always provide enough income, health coverage or stability to make workers ineligible for assistance.
The report also examined employer information from 15 agencies in 11 selected states using records available as of September 2025. Those employer results should not be treated as a nationwide ranking because the states and agencies were selected for the review and reporting systems differ.
Reporting by The Washington Post found increases in public-benefit enrollment among workers linked to several large delivery and gig-economy companies. Companies and labor advocates disagree about what those numbers show, including how to account for part-time schedules, turnover, independent-contractor status and whether a worker receives benefits through another household member.
The full methodology and findings are available from the U.S. Government Accountability Office. The related report was published by The Washington Post.
