Amazon is currently offering Amazon Prime discount to Americans who have enrolled in Medicaid, a health insurance program. Currently, a monthly subscription for Amazon Prime costs $12.99/month, but American adults with Medicaid can avail it for $5.99/month. This is also cheaper in comparison to the $99 annual subscription.
As of now, over 70 million American adults from low-income families are enrolled in the health insurance program. CNET notes that this new strategy might be to target low-income consumers onto their platform. Amazon already has a huge user base consisting of people in moderate to high-income families.
Cem Sibay, vice president of Amazon said: "We hope to make Prime even more accessible,[...] With more than 100 million products to choose from, low prices, time savings, and fast and convenient delivery options, the combination of shipping, shopping, and entertainment provide tremendous value to customers."
It should be noted that the e-commerce company has also been offering discounted Prime memberships to people using food stamps and similar government assistance. And then there is the Amazon Prime discount for students which provides Prime membership at $6.49/month to students who can show a legitimate .edu email address.
Individuals, who want to avail the Amazon Prime discount will have to head to Amazon.com/Qualify and upload a photo of their Medicaid card or EBT card. This will activate the discount. But do note, this verification process has to be done every 12 months to make sure that the person still has their Medicaid or EBT card. Furthermore, the Amazon Prime discount will only be available for the first four years of the membership. There is also a limitation that the Prime members will not be shareable like the full-priced membership.