Eric Ravenscraft
Amazon wants to sell things to everyone on Earth, but families with a lower income can have a hard time joining the company’s Prime-fueled vision of the future. Amazon wants to change that with a discount on the monthly price for Prime, if you qualify for Medicaid.
According to Amazon, the monthly price for Prime will be reduced from the normal $12.99 all the way down to $5.99 per month for customers who qualify for Medicaid. Who qualifies for Medicaid can vary from state to state, but generally the program targets individuals and families with low income, disabilities, or people over the age of 65.
The $7 per month discount can make Prime accessible to a lot of household that otherwise wouldn’t be able to gain access to the program. On top of the cheaper shipping and access to delivery services like Prime Now (that tend to encourage more spending), Prime gives members unlimited access to Prime Video, Prime Music, a selection of Kindle books to borrow, and discounts on otherwise normally priced goods. Even without extra shopping, Prime could be a huge benefit to households.
The yearly cost for this Prime membership would come out to $72, which is $28 cheaper than even the discounted yearly price that regular members can pay (otherwise, paying $12.99 per month would cost $156 per year). No matter how you slice it, this discount is a help to the households that are least able to pay for Amazon’s conveniences.
Source: Recode
