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Amazon launches a low-cost version of Prime for Medicaid recipients
Amazon announced this morning it will offer a low-cost version of its Prime membership program to qualifying recipients of Medicaid. The program will bring the cost of Prime down from the usual $10.99 per month to about half that, at $5.99 per month, while still offering the full range of Prime perks, including free, two-day shipping on millions of products, Prime Video, Prime Music, Prime Photos, Prime Reading, Prime Now, Audible Channels, and more.
The new program is an expansion on Amazon's discounted Prime service for customers on government assistance, launched in June 2017. For the same price of $5.99 per month, Amazon offers Prime memberships to any U.S. customer with a valid EBT card – the card that's used to disburse funds for assistance programs like Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF), Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), and Women, Infants, and Children Nutrition Program (WIC).
It could be a way to get users with certain health care requirements on board before Amazon launches its own health insurance company.
Also at USA Today.
(Score: 5, Informative) by NewNic on Thursday March 08 2018, @06:04PM (3 children)
It's about 3x the per capita spending of the UK's National Health Service, while covering only 1/4 of the population, while the NHS covers 100% of the population.
So government in the USA spends about 12x more per covered person than the UK does and get poorer results. Yay, the free market at work!
lib·er·tar·i·an·ism ˌlibərˈterēənizəm/ noun: Magical thinking that useful idiots mistake for serious political theory
(Score: -1, Troll) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday March 08 2018, @07:02PM (1 child)
Your argument is totally unpersuasive, because it's clear that America's free market in medical care is in the intensive care unit with a weak pulse. The few places where there actually is a free market (e.g., LASIK surgery) has seen rapid improvements in quality and cost.
Indeed, there are people on your side of this issue in these very comments [soylentnews.org] who point out the vast influence that a meddling, distorting, violently imposed government already plays in the health care sector.
(Score: 2) by NewNic on Thursday March 08 2018, @08:17PM
The cognitive dissonance required to blame government for the high cost of a service provided by the private sector is very high.
The reason Lasik is cheaper is that it is elective. People can simply continue to use grasses or contacts instead of having Lasik. The impact on quality of life is minimal.
Also, elective surgery isn't cheap in the USA. Go to almost any other country and you can get that plastic surgery much cheaper.
lib·er·tar·i·an·ism ˌlibərˈterēənizəm/ noun: Magical thinking that useful idiots mistake for serious political theory
(Score: 4, Informative) by DeathMonkey on Thursday March 08 2018, @08:42PM
Oh and it get's better!
The stupidity of Trumpcare: Government will spend $33 billion more to cover 8.9 million fewer Americans, as premiums soar [latimes.com]