Amazon is piloting a small program offering full-time benefits to 30-hour-a-week workers. The goal: recruit top talent that can’t work full-time hours (think mothers). Google jumps into the ridesharing game, although its service isn’t competitive with Uber (yet). A new poll shows the majority of Americans don’t believe the self-driving car is a better option. And in the wake of projected health premium increases, a solution that could significantly slow them down – expand Medicaid. Here’s your 1099 weekly roundup. 

Industry News

Stride Health launches an app that tracks Uber drivers' expenses (2 min)
Sarah Kessler, Fast Company
Truly supporting the 1099 worker means assessing health, income, expenses and work lifestyle to deliver the optimal suite of benefits. We are thrilled to release Stride Tax, the next step in helping independent workers maximize their take home pay.

Google is getting into the ride-share business — but it isn't a threat to Uber just yet (3 min)
Johana Bhuiyan, Recode
Not aiming to be a full-fledged ride hailing service (yet), Waze simply enables drivers to pick up passengers who are headed to a similar destination – in exchange for what amounts to gas money. 

Wharton Study: Kickstarter Fuels Job Creation, Gig Economy -- And Career Reinvention (5 min)
Elaine Pofeldt, Forbes
The business-of-one is something we talk about a lot. A new Kickstarter survey shows that 67% of projects were created by individuals. For many, their project helped them transition to a higher paying career, allowing upward job mobility without necessarily going back to school.

We polled Americans about self-driving cars. Here's what they told us (5 min)
Timothy B. Lee, Vox
Self-driving cars are coming faster than Americans expected, and we’re skeptical. Only 32% believe these cars will improve the driving experience.  

Benefits Outliers

Why Amazon is trying out a 30-hour work week (3 min)
Westin Williams, CSMonitor
A 30-hour workweek with full benefits? Will this cause a workplace revolution? Amazon looks to tap a more diverse workforce of qualified employees – especially mothers – that simply don’t have the time for a full-time job.   

Startup NYC ride provider to ignore independent contractor model (4 min)
Tom Starner, HR Dive
Juno, a soon-to-be Uber and Lyft competitor, offers full-time employment with benefits and stock options. Here’s the deal – drivers must work exclusively for them.

Your Health

Expand Medicaid and Obamacare will cost less, federal government says (3 min)
Dan Mangan, CNBC
States with wider Medicaid health coverage saw prices that were 7 percent lower on Obamacare marketplaces than states that didn’t expanded Medicaid. Here’s why.  

Until next time, have a great week.

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