EBT and Medicaid members are eligible to get more than 50% off Amazon Prime’s $12.99 monthly membership fee, bringing the cost down to just $5.99 a month.
The standard cost of an annual Amazon Prime membership, as opposed to the month-to-month plan, is $119, which comes out to about $10 a month. So any way you look at it, $5.99 is still an amazing deal.
As of June 2018, Amazon Prime had about 95 million subscribers, according to Statista.com. Prime members gain access to all sorts of exclusive rewards and benefits, including free two-day shipping, Prime Video streaming, and the Amazon Prime Rewards Visa Signature Credit Card.
How To Qualify For The Amazon Prime Discount
In order to qualify to get discounted Amazon Prime benefits, you must be actively enrolled in an EBT or Medicaid program through your state.
EBT (Electronic Benefits Transfer) and Medicaid are government assistance programs that aid low income individuals and households by offering health insurance, rent support and other essential services.
A physical EBT or Medicaid card is required in order to qualify for discounted Amazon Prime benefits.
How To Register your EBT Or Medicaid Card And Start Saving
Fortunately, Amazon makes it very easy to take advantage of this deal.
First, simply go to the Amazon Prime EBT & Medicaid deal page to get started.
From there, hit the big yellow ‘Get Started’ button and then proceed to the Amazon sign in page. If you already have an Amazon account (it doesn’t have to be a Prime account), go ahead and sign in. If you don’t, you can sign up for one free by clicking here.
As soon as you’re signed in, Amazon will automatically send a confirmation code to your email address. Once you enter the confirmation code, you will be asked to upload a picture of your EBT or Medicaid card.
As long as your card is active and approved, you will start receiving benefits immediately. If you are waiting on a refund for part of the year you have already paid for (see below), that may take a couple of business days.
What If I Already Have Amazon Prime?
Not a problem! Even if you already have an Amazon Prime membership, you can register your EBT or Medicaid card and start getting money off your membership in the future.
Whether you currently make monthly payments or annual payments for Amazon Prime, your account will automatically change to a month-to-month plan when you sign up for EBT/Medicaid benefits. This means you can cancel at any time.
The discount will take effect in your next billing cycle. And, most importantly, if you have already paid for a year of Amazon Prime, Amazon will give you a prorated refund of however many months remain of your membership.
For example, if you paid the $119 fee for a year of Amazon Prime and have four months remaining when you register your EBT or Medicaid card, you will receive a refund of approximately $40 ($119 / 12 months = about $10 a month, and $10 x 4 months remaining = $40 refunded, approximately).
If you currently pay the regular $12.99 per month for Prime, your bill will simply change to $5.99 on the first scheduled payment date after registering your card.
Can I Share My Amazon Prime Account With My Family?
The answer to that is… sort of. A feature called ‘Prime Household’ allows certain Prime benefits to be shared between people living in the same home.
These benefits include the ability to share access to Amazon Prime Video, as well your digital library of music, eBooks and audiobooks. It also lets you share credit cards and other payment methods, as well as free 2-day shipping privileges.
With a standard Amazon Prime account, all of these benefits can be shared between up to two adults living at the same address. Unfortunately, if you sign up for Amazon Prime with EBT or Medicaid, you are unable to share the benefit of free 2-day shipping with anyone 18 or older.
However, you can still share 2-day shipping with anyone under the age of 18. A number of settings are available to the primary account holder to regulate and approve purchases made by children on the account.
So, What Do I Get With Amazon Prime?
Amazon Prime is probably best known for its free 2-day shipping. However, there are a number of other exciting benefits to take advantage of. Here are some highlights.
Free Release Date Delivery
Say you make a video game preorder, or you’re hoping to get that new book the day it comes out. With Amazon Prime, many items ordered before they’re released will get delivered to you the day they come out.
Access To Prime Now
Prime Now is a free 2-hour delivery service that lets you order from a huge variety of items and have things delivered the very same day. There is a separate Prime Now app that can be downloaded for iOS and Android devices.
Amazon Whole Foods Discounts
Since Amazon acquired Whole Foods, the popular chain of grocery stores, Amazon Prime members can find all sorts of exclusive perks and discounts when grocery shopping both in-store and online.
Prime Day Deals
Each year in July, Amazon throws a massive sale across their website called Prime Day. Think Black Friday, but bigger. The sales and limited-time Lightning Deals are exclusive to Prime members.
Amazon Prime Video
Rivaled only perhaps by Netflix, Amazon Video is a streaming service that offers members unlimited access to TV shows, movies and a bunch of Amazon original series and movies.
Amazon Rewards Card
Amazon also offers a Visa Signature Rewards Card that gives users 5% back in rewards on all eligible Prime purchases, 2% back at restaurants, gas stations and drug stores, and 1% back on all other purchases. There is no annual fee and right now you can even get a $70 Amazon gift card upon approval. Oh, and did I mention the credit card is made of metal?
Click here to explore even more Amazon prime benefits.
But Is $5.99 Really A Good Deal?
Certainly, just because something is more than 50% off its original price does not automatically make it a good deal. If the membership normally cost $10,000 a year, then $5,000 or even $4,000 a year would still be too much money.
Considering Amazon recently raised the monthly cost of Amazon Prime from $10.99 to $12.99, you are unlikely to find a better offer than this unless you qualify for Amazon Prime Student.
For many, the free 2-day shipping alone makes the cost of Prime worth it. As one Prime member on Reddit says:
“If Amazon can send it to me and I can order it right away, I get to move on with my life. I clear out my headspace to focus on what’s important to me.”
In the end, it depends on how much you personally consider online shopping a convenience, and whether any of the other included Prime benefits sound appealing.
And remember, with a month-to-month membership, you can cancel at any time. You can even begin with a Prime 30-day trial for free.
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So, is Amazon Prime worth it to you? Will you try to take advantage of this offer? Let us know your thoughts down below, or feel free to ask any lingering questions you may have.
Be sure to share this post with friends and family to let them know about this deal!