Transactional costs associated with providing professional services are reduced by allowing prospective patients/clients (bidders) and professional service providers to negotiate competitively for desired fees for proffered services through an interactive on-line communications network such as the Internet. In an exemplary arrangement, a transaction system includes a communications network server that interfaces and communicates online with client computer systems belonging to various prospective bidders and personal medical service providers using, for example, an exchange of HTML documents and/or JAVA script applets. A transaction system server handles online communications and procedures for conducting auctions for delivery of proffered services and maintains a registration database of service providers and bidders. An authentication/qualifier engine automatically researches and verifies service provider credentials and background information upon registration of a service provider with the system. Service provider qualification credentials and medical procedural code information databases as well as one or more search engines for verifying and/or researching the qualifications of a particular service provider are provided and made available to a bidder via, for example, a web-page menu driven interface. A service feedback interface and database are provided for handling online feedback information and comments from patients/clients and providers regarding the complexity and quality of services received or provided. The transaction system may also include remote client system software/hardware facilities for bidders and providers for providing customized database and computational services for communicating and participating in online bidding activities. An integrated life and health insurance product that integrates competitive bidding for health services with usage of death benefit equity for the purpose of life prolongation.