“Wholesale life insurance” means life insurance distributed on a mass merchandising basis and administered by group methods provided, with or without evidence of insurability, by individual policies and made available to employees or members under a program sponsored by: An employer; An association of employers; A union or association of unions; An association of persons having the same occupation or profession; An association of civil service employees; A religious, charitable, recreational, educational, civic, or fraternal organization or association; A school; A sports team; A volunteer fire department; or Any substantially similar group approved by the Commissioner. The program may also cover dependents of the employees or members. As used in this chapter, the term “wholesale life insurance policy” does not include policies issued in connection with: Employee benefit trusts and plans forming part of a retirement, stock bonus, pension, profit-sharing, annuity, deferred compensation, disability, or death benefit plan established by an employer for the benefit of some or all of his employees or their dependents or beneficiaries qualified or exempt under the United States Internal Revenue Code of 1954, as amended from time to time; Employee trusts and plans established under the Federal Self-Employed Individuals Tax Retirement Act of 1962; Tax sheltered annuity programs for certain organizations exempt from federal income tax and for public schools; and Buy-and-sell agreements. An arrangement for premium payment such as salary deduction, salary savings, or payroll allotment may not in and of itself cause a policy to be classified as wholesale life insurance. Except where the context indicates otherwise, references to policy in this chapter shall refer to a wholesale life insurance policy.