Posted on 03/07/2018 3:03:17 PM PST by bitt
Amazon has taken another step to woo low-income shoppers to its site and away from rival Walmart.
The online retailer opened its discounted $5.99-a-month Prime membership on Wednesday to people on Medicaid, giving it an even bigger pool of potential shoppers who may otherwise have been unable to pay the standard fee.
Since June, Amazon has offered the same Prime discount to people using food stamps or other government assistance through an Electronic Benefit Transfer card. Adding Medicaid recipients makes Prime, and its expedited shipping for no extra cost, accessible to more people, Amazon said.
Industry analysts believe Amazon is maneuvering both to expand its Prime membership numbers, and to go after people whose first shopping destination may be Walmart.
Nearly 70 million people are enrolled in Medicaid, which provides health coverage to low-income people and those with disabilities. More than 42 million participate in the food stamps program, through what is now called the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program.
Amazon.com Inc. declined to say how many people signed up for Prime under the EBT card expansion, but Aaron Perrine, who oversees the program, says those that did sign up kept the service and were engaged Prime users.
To apply for the discounted Prime, Medicaid recipients need to take a photo of their Medicaid card and upload it to the site. The $5.99-a-month price compares to the regular $12.99 pay-by-month option and is nearly $30 cheaper than the $99-annual-fee plan.
Besides two-day shipping, Medicaid receipts will get Primes other perks, such as access to Amazons video and music streaming services.
Avi Greengart, an industry analyst at GlobalData, said the discount could be helpful to Medicaid recipients with medical issues who cant make it to the store to buy heavy items, such as laundry detergent, or who cant spend more than $25 on every order to qualify for free shipping.
They are enabling people who otherwise would be priced out, said Greengart.
p
I am PO’d that EBT cards can be used on Amazon.
Does Walmart accept EBT online?
Probably.
GrrrrRRRRRRrrrrr.
So sick of this chit.
forgive me if i’ve overlooked something,.. but...
we thought flaky Flake was retiring, resigning, leaving the senate?
WHEN????????????????????
I wonder just how many politicians Bezos has bought (or blackmailed).
Bezos the CIA-kid?
Are you on the right thread, my FRiend?
I guess this would also include wealthy early retired people eligible in MCaid expansion states by minimizing their income. Free healthcare and cheap Prime!
That’s the guy.
He sure makes some sweet deals for himself, usually at taxpayer expense.
I have decided to cancel my Prime Account and will not renew. Don’t really need it. I cut the cord in January and I find that NetFlix and Hulu are enough along with what I get with my digital antenna. I may end up letting HULU go also.
YouTube also has plenty to watch and no charge.
Amazon with this and it’s new foray into Banking is enough for me to cut my ties. They are an evil company.
no. sorry. dont know how that happened
More freebies!
Amazon will pass the difference on to it’s regular customers. Punishing the rest of us. One more reason to avoid Amazon like the plague.
This is one of the many paths they are taking toward “basic income”.
In my ideal, “basic income” would come entirely from charity. I have no problem with Bezos personally giving $80/year to every medicaid recipient to buy amazon prime or even giving them prime for free. I would praise him for doing it. If he could support 10-20% of the country (the upper-lower-class) to live a reasonable life without working and without government that’s a huge accomplishment (if that’s what he wants) I’ll buy him a beer (or whatever he wants for me to show appreciation).
But, in their ideal, the “income” would come entirely from MY taxes (Bezos has an accountant to avoid the taxes or transfer them directly to “medicaid recipients” or whoever he favors this year so I pay this “income” and he deducts it from his taxes)
Their eventual goal is that everyone gets enough government money plus private services/products so that nobody HAS to work. Their private services/products are written off in tax deductions, so the middle class pays for part of the lower class to live without working, and encourages the growth of that part of the lower class that could work but would have a lower standard of living if they got a paycheck instead of Bezos’s discount. The middle class has to work much more because we are footing the bill for everyone Bezos wants to help - either through taxes, or through payments to Bezos companies that given free stuff to the lower class.
Walmart has offered the best deal on prescription drugs, not just for the welfare crowd, but for all US citizens and senior citizens especially.
I think they have to. Walmart does not charge a membership fee and they are not majority owned by a leftist pig that uses a national newspaper to spew their hate, and that is a very big difference.
I’ll NEVER buy from Amazon again, that’s it. I’m done !!!
Why? What provoked that reaction?
Lord forbid they offered the same deal to medicare recipients - retired people who paid into the system for ~45 years and provided for their own living standards -
and those medicare resipients probably vote for deplorables...
Bayzo (alkie) I mean, Bezos, is pulling the big con on the gov’t..
not to mention, they are collecting more metadata on future ‘voters’..
Yep. There are no free lunches ... someone will pay for that lunch .... remember CommieCare!
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