Life is the result of a series of decisions. Some large, some small, but all make an impact on your final destination in life.

It is also important to remember that NOT making a decision is actually making a decision and can change your life’s outcome in dramatic ways.

With that being said, I make my decisions based upon as much information as possible so I can best judge the outcome of my actions.

Although I try to be as careful as possible, some decisions are difficult to make due to lack of, misleading, incomplete or confusing information. One of these decisions is presently facing all of us senior citizens — the selection of our medical insurance coverage plan.

Selecting insurance overall is always confusing. But up until this year, it never occurred to me that in some cases, it may be intentionally confusing.

For an example, let’s take a closer look at our medical insurance options.

First of all, there seems to be an endless supply of options, Plan A, Plan B, etc., etc. The fact that the plans are labeled using the alphabet is the first clue. The insurance companies can offer 26 different plans without even having to come up with a name.

Next they add Advantage Plans and Supplemental Plans, which now gives them 52 different options.

To make the process harder, you have to make a decision between Nov. 1 and Dec. 15 this year.

When you consider all the information variables, plans and time constraints, the only thing missing from the process is requiring you to walk a tight rope over a lake full of alligators with a guy beating you with a wipe all the way while screaming, “Hurry-up.”

Things started to make more sense this year when I took a closer look at the entire process.

It is important to remember that the laws which form the foundation of the health care insurance system were written by politicians who have no vested interest in the plan because they are personally covered by a wonderful government health plan at no cost to them.

The other party involved in developing health care insurance programs are the insurance and health care lobbyists whose vested interests are in their companies best interest.

Nowhere in this system do I see anyone involved who is actually impacted by the system.

This might be a good clue as to why things are not simple to understand and at best challenging to make the best decision.

Now in the defense of the government and the insurance industry, there is no shortage of information available. As a matter of fact, there is an abundance of information but little of it is of a comparison nature.

It seems to me a good approach would be to plug in my personal situation and have a variety of plans suggested that fit my needs.

However, I have to learn how all the systems work and then figure out which one might work for me and get that gigantic task completed within a specific time frame while twirling fire-lit batons like some majorette.

This year, my wife and I chose instead to talk to various insurance representatives or agents to cut through the confusion — and instead ran into another brick wall.

In all fairness, I found the agents knowledgeable but with their hands tied by understandable government regulations. They will share information but refrain from making a recommendation.

I always got the impression they had the right answer if I just knew which right question to ask.

No matter how hard I worked at the process, when it came down to a final decision I always felt I was sitting across the table from a guy with a wide-brimmed hat pulled down to hide his eyes running a Shell Game.

Slowly he placed a walnut on the table and covered it with a paper cup. Adding two more cups his hands slowly began moving the cups. Suddenly his hands were a blur as he said, “OK. time to decide — pick the cup your insurance plan is under.”

John Kasun writes from his home in Duncansville, where the only sure bet when it comes to his health insurance is that the price will be going up.