He said the product was intended to supplement, not replace, a soldier's low-cost military insurance, which provides $250,000 in death benefits for premiums of about $240 a year.

The low-cost insurance was the carrot.

The medical savings account system would allow them to buy low-cost, high-deductible insurance, which is not now readily available.

But they are required to share the company with investors whose primary interest, presumably, is maximum returns rather than low-cost insurance.

Critics of the program say that the low-cost insurance encourages shoreline development, and that taxpayers pick up the tab when the inevitable storm strikes.

The working poor often find themselves financially worse off than those on state or city assistance; there is no low-cost medical insurance available to working people who are poor.

The order provides low-cost insurance and mutual aid and has historically promoted the preservation of German language and traditions.

The change would end decades of ownership by policyholders whose goal was low-cost insurance, not corporate profit.

The Legislature ordered the state to seek federal waivers to improve access to health care and to low-cost private insurance for children, the elderly and low-income residents.

Most active in the U.S. state of Michigan, the group's fraternal aspects took a backseat to providing low-cost insurance to members.