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.

"It's a different world." I hear that statement many times a week. Most often, it is voiced in frustration or anger over something that happened involving another person.

As a society, we do seem to have changed. Many goods and services are "personalized" now but not "personal". Do you remember stories of the 1940's and 1950's? The ice man showed up at our home and, chatting all the way, carried the heavy block of dripping ice to the ice box so we could have chilled foods. The mail man delivered on foot and brought the mail to the house. We knew him and he knew us. He asked about the events of our lives and reported on those of his but he did not gossip about what he knew of his other families on the route. The paper boy brought the paper to the house each morning and tucked it inside the storm door before we were awake so it would be easily available and dry for us to read. He collected in person every week for the cost of the newspapers. (I was a morning paper boy.) The insurance man came to the house and sat at the kitchen table to discuss our needs and what he could provide to help. Things like that have gone - replaced by more efficient delivery of the things that serve the same needs.

It is even true of us. We have set up our web site so that you can buy many kinds of insurance on-line without even needing to talk to us. If that suits your needs, we are glad to comply. But I also want you to know that we are available to talk. If you are near our home office in Saint Louis, you can drop by or we will come and sit at your kitchen table if you invite us. If you live too far away for that, we will be glad to speak with you by telephone and fully discuss your needs. We offer this because we still think of insurance in a very "personal" way and we care about each of our clients no matter where they live.

Give us a call. Let us prove what I say.