PROFILES: It’s not all about money for insurance agent Carolyn Mager

Carolyn Mager's greatest goal in her 15 years in the insurance business is not to make the most sales as possible.

An insurance agent/partner with West & Mager Insurance and Financial Services in St. Peter, Mager said her first priority is to be helpful.

Early in her career, she promised herself that she would never look at her clients as a dollar figure.

"The industry is so focused on following the money instead of focusing on what's best for each individual," Mager said. "If we really had a system that focused on people's wellbeing, both mental and physical health, I could wish myself out of a job. But as long as I'm getting up in the morning and feeling like I'm helping people, it falls into place."

She continued, "What if we had a system that truly wanted to keep people healthy? Not where we keep them sick enough so that they keep running to the doctor and generating claims, which then rolls into more medications and more money for big pharma. And the more you go to the doctor means more money for the health system and the insurance companies.

"If I can help someone $300 by switching pharmacies, or I'm sorry you got that diagnosis but if we can change your insurance to this, it can minimize your out-of-pocket cost. Anytime I can save anybody money, it makes me really happy."

Mager finds the job rewarding when clients "say that they're so glad that you explained that, we weren't understanding that or we were so overwhelmed."

West & Mager offers insurance through 17 different companies. The majority of the business is with Blue Cross and UCare, but they represent others.

The securities' contracts are offered through Principal Financial based in Des Moines, Iowa.

West & Mager basically offers four types of insurance: health (specializing in Medicare), life, disability and long-term care.

"We insure people, not things," Mager said. "From the investment side of things, it's anything from annuities to IRA's."

Mager researches companies and advises clients on which to choose, based a number of factors including which county they live in, the type of Medicare supplement plan chosen, the ease of access on the website, access to clinics in the network, the coverage, prescription drug coverage and the price formula of the premium. Although Mager gets credit for a sale, she does not charge clients a fee.

"You pay the exact same premium per month whether you have an agent or not," Mager said. "But by me submitting the application, I get assigned as their agent or broker. Then the insurance companies pay me a commission for providing servicing because I'm the one who could call on their behalf."

Mager said she is inherently frugal.

"I know some agents will purposely try to sell the most expensive plan because hopefully it will be the least amount of questions," Mager said. "With more premium, it will be better coverage. I try to weigh all the pros and cons. Sometimes I might recommend a client to have a zero dollar premium plan, which some of the Medicare plans are."

"If someone takes little or no meds and the ones they do are covered well, they don't need as good of coverage. A lower deductible also isn't necessary if they are only going to the doctor for preventive care."

While Mager tries to get the best deal possible, she knows the importance of comprehensive insurance coverage for people who need it. She is a diabetic who needs insulin regularly.

"I have other people say I'm not used to having a $300 co-pay if I go to the hospital," Mager said. "I'd rather pay more premium. I take time analyzing every clients' drugs, if they're willing to share their health conditions, how often do they doctor. We don't want people overpaying premiums that they're never going to get back but also making sure that they have coverage."

Mager thinks people need an agent for a number of reasons including questions on bills, keeping track of prescription price changes and for more face-to-face personal service rather than calling an 800 number.

"A lot of people don't have the basics of what is the original Medicare. What are these types of supplements? It's so overwhelming that some people don't know where to start or they randomly pick something on price alone. Sometimes they're hit with a bigger bill because their doctor was out of network or they didn't realize that their drug wasn't going to be on the formulary.

"What sets us apart from other agencies is that we proactively reach out to every one of our Medicare clients and say 'this has changed a lot, and we think maybe you don't want to auto renew. We have a different plan suggestion.'"

Asked about what she likes about the work, Mager said, "I've always liked that teaching side. I've actually taught at MSU as adjunct professor.

"I like solving puzzles and doing research. When it's go time in the fall when we have hundreds of clients emailing us, dropping off and mailing their medication lists and we have to plug in all this data and analyze this plan over this plan, it's daunting at times, but I think it's kind of fun."

Mager, 39, quickly advanced in business to become one of the three owners in 2009 at the age of 27. Buster West founded the business in 1971. His son, Casey West, also became a partner in 2009.

But Mager didn't plan on working in the insurance and financial business.

She started out by accident.

While working on her master's degree in speech communication and minoring in English and sociology at Minnesota State University, Mankato, she asked Buster West for a reference.

"My plan was to be a college professor," Mager said. "I asked Buster for a reference because I was going to apply for a job at MSU in the admissions department and start my PhD work. Buster said, 'I'll be a reference for you, but why don't you come work for me instead?'"

And, after some soul searching, she became the office manager in 2006 at age 24.

"I didn't mean any offense to him , but I said insurance and financial sounds so boring, so I won't do it," Mager said. "And then things fall into place and months later I'm his office manager trying to learn what's an IRA and what's this and that. It was all pretty foreign to me. After about a year of working for him, then I started getting licensed. I got my insurance license. I got my securities license. And then he mentored me into figuring out how this world works, how to run a meeting and what questions to ask.

"When you're young and new and green, you don't know where to start. It's kind of terrifying, but I'm grateful that he saw something in me."

West hired Mager because "she has amazing empathy. She's really good with people. You can teach skills, but you can't teach nice."

Mager also always works to answer people's questions.

"If you ask her a question, she wants to give you an answer," West said. "And she doesn't like questions that don't have answers. Her clients have really hard questions, somewhere in the Social Security or Medicare law, and she will find it. She's relentless when it comes to finding an answer."

After 15 years, Mager decided to stop being a financial adviser and focus on her greatest interest: insurance.

"When I had my daughter in 2017, I hung up my securities' hat," Mager said. "So as it stands today, I'm just on the insurance side."

Besides her work, Mager is active in the community as 15-year member and current president of the St. Peter Lions Club and volunteering with the St. Peter Chamber of Commerce Diplomats who do ribbon cuttings for new or expanding businesses and host Business After Hours.

"What I like best about the Lions is we do volunteer things like the Kick Back Pack program or the breakfast we do for fundraisers to donate to things," Mager said. "The diplomats is fun. We're like the welcome wagon to St. Peter."

Mager also keeps busy with her family. She and her husband, Ryan, have a daughter, Paige, 4 1/2. They live in Carolyn's hometown of Le Center, where she grew up on the family farm.

"I have the most amazing family in the world, and they are my favorite pastime when I'm not working," Mager said. "It's not only Ryan and Paige, but my parents and my sister and her fiancé and my in-laws. I am one blessed lady!"

In addition to Mager and the Wests, Tami Kazeney serves as a client relations specialist, who Mager relies on greatly.

"I call her superwoman," Mager said. "She's like the best human being you will ever meet. She's so kind and she's so smart, and she has an amazing work ethic. We would not be able to do what we do without that woman."