When a card is used to buy a drug, the pharmacist must inform the beneficiary if a lower-cost generic version of that drug is available.

Cost Plus World Market is often described as a larger, lower-cost version of Pier 1.

As a result, consumers must buy the more expensive brand-name drug rather than the lower-cost generic version.

A lower-cost standard version will be available in September, although the final specification and price haven't been decided yet.

Next week, Intel is expected to introduce a lower-cost version of the 486, its top microprocessor, which is expected to further spur demand.

A lower-cost version is now being tried.

Intel also introduced a lower-cost version of the chip, the 386SX, this year.

But, experts say, companies offering a lower-cost version of branded products are walking a tightrope.

Sales of Ritalin, which was approved in 1955, have been declining for years as doctors prescribe lower-cost, generic versions.

A simplified, lower-cost version of Pantsir-S1 is also being developed for export, with only the electro-optic fire control system fitted.