<prompt> Human: Ill try not to rant for too long here.. Federal employee, married, two young children. Im not MENSA material, but Im no dolt either. Current health insurance is going up by over 500 this year. As far as I can tell, for no increase in coverage. We were not unhappy, but also not pleased with our insurance the last two years, but a catastrophic accident and the birth of two kids planted me firmly in the were not changing anything in the middle of this mindset. So now, here it is, open season, and my family is shopping around. We know a few things First, our current FSA option sucks; its so cumbersome that its not worth my time. Its literally money thrown away because I cant get reimbursed through their online program for anything without it going through two different rejections and having to write a statement for each item. A single 2 bottle of Hydrogen Peroxide, submit the receipt, picture of the label, address of the store purchased at .. rejected. More back and forth, submitting screenshots of bank statements with purchases notated, finally accepted. Sweet, only took me 2 hours to get my 2 back - NOT worth the time, especially not when extrapolated to a hundred or so purchases. Co-pays, large bills, even those are a headache to get back. Watched hundreds of dollars just disappear last year unused from the FSA.. So, wed like to shift to a high deductible HSA-eligible plan; Id really like to just have a card in my wallet we only swipe for medical related expenses - thats something we can manage easily. Next, Id like to look into invisalign braces to fix some issues I wish my parents had when I was younger. After that, my wife would like to look at Lasik. If not that, then her best options for good vision coverage. Most importantly, we dont want to have to worry about walking into the wrong doctors office if one of our kids has an emergency. Just got back from my employers health fair 30 reps packed into 600ish sq. ft. and could not be more disappointed. I pulled my benefits statements before going over so Id know what Im currently covered for and paying in co-pays etc. thinking this will make it easy, Ill just go down the list and see who offers what! Wrong. Theres an exception to everything. So here I am, a gigantic pile of brochures in front of me that you need a background in analysis to decipher, trudging through OPMs plan comparison tool. And Im mad. Mad that none of these pamphlets are formatted the same. Mad that they use different measures and terms for the same services. Mad that theyre nigh impossible to side by side. Mad that no one can explain why my premium is going up so much for no new benefits. Mad that even trying to understand the difference between basic option and standard option is eye-bleedingly tedious. Mad that the reps cant answer questions about levels of coverage compared to their competitors, but can bring up no less than five times that they cover 52 therapeutic massage visits per calendar year! It almost feels deliberate - the difficulty here in trying to decide whats best for my familys health. The best response and info Ive been able to get are from co-workers enrolled in other plans ... what did you pay for this, where did you go for that etc. etc.Im frustrated. This is a major deal for me. I have worked hard to be in a position to provide for my family were single income and Im also the benefits provider but cant understand it all. Im frustrated that I feel ignorant and un-educated on something so important. Rant off. Thanks for listening, PF - if you have any tips, Im happy to listen.  <response>: Heres what I would do in short-its not a perfect solution, but here goes1 dont expect to get a tremendous amount of coverage, if any, for orthodontics and Lasik. Most likely ortho is considered elective and lasik definitely is, although some supplemental plans will kick in a little as a bonus.2 asking other coworkers is not a bad way to do it, honestly. One thing you want to look for which hospitals and facilities are covered. For example, if you lived in DC Id want Childrens National to be part of the network. If you know any coworkers who have complex medical problems, ask them, as they will have experience with having to go to lots of different doctors. 