There are two things important beyond price; your life and your health. When dealing with services or products directly affecting your life and your health, you cannot go wrong by selecting quality even if it costs more.

Here is what I mean. Say you plan on buying a new lawnmower. It is entirely reasonable to line up all the 21-inch, self-propelled, rotary lawnmowers and buy the one that is cheapest. If it turns out to be shoddy, all you will have wasted is a few bucks. You will not have risked your life or your health in making that decision.

But, if you plan on buying new tires, it is a different story. The tires are your only connection to the road; and sometimes at inherently dangerous high speeds. You cannot steer or stop without them and there may be a time when your very life depends on your ability to steer or stop. Furthermore, you do not want to risk having a blowout. Therefore, do not skimp on tires.

The difference between the effect of lawnmowers and tires on your life and health is clear - you might say it is black-and-white. But, as you know, most of life is more like grey than like black-and-white. In those plentiful grey areas, you need to use judgement rather than hard and fast rules.

As an insurance broker, I learn about the effects of health insurance decisions. People tell me good stories and bad ones. Even though the actual number of good stories far outnumbers the bad stories, I hear more bad ones than good ones because people are more inclined to share their bad experiences than their good ones. Yes?

OK. Here is what I have learned. Health insurance is more like tires than like lawnmowers. That is, it is wise to buy quality health insurance coverage rather than getting the cheapest you can find. Cheap health insurance is a really good buy only if you do not need to use it ... ever. When you do need to use your health insurance, you will be glad you paid a little more to get a good plan from a good company. Trust me on this.