Jun 6, 2017 - Economy & Business

Amazon offers discounts for low-income shoppers

Paul Sakuma / AP

On Tuesday, Amazon announced discounted fees for its Prime membership for customers participating in certain government assistance programs. Customers who qualify can access Prime's unlimited free two-day shipping, video, music, reading, and photo storage services for $5.99 per month for a year. Amazon Prime's normal price is $10.99 per month or $99 per year (which works out to $8.25 per month).

Taking on Walmart: Amazon's Prime discount is a direct move to compete with Walmart, which brought in $13 billion in sales last year from shoppers using the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), or 18% of the money spent through the program, according to the Wall Street Journal. With that said, EBT cards, commonly used to collect funds from assistance programs, can't be used to pay for the membership.

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Axios

Updated 5 hours ago - Politics & Policy

Coronavirus dashboard

Illustration: Sarah Grillo/Axios

Global: Total confirmed cases as of 9:45 p.m. ET: 19,282,972 — Total deaths: 718,851 — Total recoveries — 11,671,491 — Map.
U.S.: Total confirmed cases as of 9:45 p.m. ET: 4,937,441 — Total deaths: 161,248 — Total recoveries: 1,623,870 — Total tests: 60,415,558 — Map.
Politics: Trump says he's prepared to sign executive orders on coronavirus aid.
Education: Cuomo says all New York schools can reopen for in-person learning.
Public health: Surgeon general urges flu shots to prevent "double whammy" with coronavirus — Massachusetts pauses reopening after uptick in coronavirus cases.
World: Africa records over 1 million coronavirus cases — Gates Foundation puts $150 million behind coronavirus vaccine production.

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Alexi McCammond, Hans Nichols

6 hours ago - Politics & Policy

Warren and Clinton to speak on same night of Democratic convention

(Photos: Abdulhamid Hosbas/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images, Sean Rayford/Getty Images)

Sen. Elizabeth Warren and Hillary Clinton both are slated to speak on the Wednesday of the Democratic convention — Aug. 19 — four sources familiar with the planning told Axios.

Why it matters: That's the same night Joe Biden's running mate (to be revealed next week) will address the nation. Clinton and Warren represent two of the most influential wise-women of Democratic politics with the potential to turn out millions of establishment and progressive voters in November.

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Caitlin Owens, Jacob Knutson

6 hours ago - Health

Trump considering order on pre-existing condition protections, which already exist

Photo: Jim Watson/AFP via Getty Images

President Trump announced on Friday he will pursue an executive order requiring insurance companies to cover pre-existing conditions, something that is already law.

Why it matters: The Affordable Care Act already requires insurers to cover pre-existing conditions. The Trump administration is currently arguing in a case before the Supreme Court to strike down that very law — including its pre-existing condition protections.