Walmart, Amazon and Kroger offer grocery discounts for SNAP users

As grocery prices remain stubbornly high, major retailers are stepping in to ease the burden on some shoppers, but not all.

Walmart, Amazon and Kroger have rolled out or expanded programs that offer special discounts, delivery perks and membership savings to customers who use government assistance programs such as the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) and the Electronic Benefits Transfer (EBT).

Walmart’s new Walmart+ Assist membership cuts the cost of an annual subscription in half, from $98 to $49, for shoppers enrolled in government assistance programs like SNAP, Women, Infants and Children (WIC) and Medicaid.

Grocery bills in America: Here are the most and least expensive cities

Amazon offers similar breaks, with Prime Access, a discounted Prime membership for qualifying low-income customers with an integrated EBT payment platform.

Meanwhile, Kroger has expanded its ability to process SNAP payments for delivery and pickup orders, making it easier for shoppers who receive government assistance to buy groceries online.

These efforts are framed as part of a broader drive by businesses to improve “accessibility and affordability.”

The Trump administration warns that 42 million Americans could lose food stamps as the shutdown continues

Americans have felt the pressure of rising grocery prices across the country. (Spencer Platt/Getty Images)

However, they are also deepening the growing gap at the exit line. Families with incomes just above the government’s SNAP limit are forced to pay full price for food, gas and delivery, despite facing the same inflationary pressures.

However, retailers do not create this divide, they respond to it. This gap stems largely from how federal aid programs are structured, with strict income cutoffs that determine who qualifies for assistance and who does not.

Companies like Walmart, Amazon, and Kroger allocate their discounts based on those existing policies, not their status.

Get FOX Business on the go by clicking here

The federal government shut down on October 1, making it the longest shutdown in US history. (Kent Nishimura/Bloomberg/Getty Images/Getty Images)

The trend reveals a long-standing weakness in the country’s safety net: Government benefits and the discounts that come with them are often cut suddenly, leaving millions of working families just above the threshold with little relief.

FOX Business has reached out to Walmart, Amazon and Kroger for comment.

That tension is unfolding as the government shutdown continues into its fifth week, with neither side showing signs of backing down on funding priorities, a standoff that threatens to derail federal programs, including food aid.

Unless congress acts, funding for SNAP will stop on November 1, jeopardizing the program that provides essential food assistance to more than 40 million Americans and supports tens of billions in annual grocery spending.