Sean Finnegan Saves Customers Time And Money Choosing Medicare Supplement Plan

BY JILL NAGY

Jenelle Nemeth’s new business, Breastfeeding Savvy, aims to ease the frustration and isolation felt by many new mothers trying to breastfeed their babies.

Nemeth and her colleagues offer individual consultations both before and after a baby’s birth and host weekly meetings of a lactating mothers’ support group.

The business, also called The Lactation Lounge, is located at 58 Clifton Country Road, Suite 106 in Clifton Park.

Nemeth said that she dreamed for a decade of providing a lactation support service but was motivated to actually do it when the hospital she worked at discontinued outpatient services during COVID and still is very limited by shortages of staff in what it can offer.

As a hospital nurse, Nemeth did home visits for a couple of years and, during that time, she saw a lot of new mothers self-isolating, cut off from outpatient services and support groups.

“My heart could not see another isolated mom and that was the real drive behind launching: to gather these moms together to see that they were not alone in transitioning into parenthood,” she said.

She sees between eight and 16 women a week for individual consultations. In addition, Nemeth opens the facility every Wednesday morning for a free support group. Sometimes, the new mothers just talk about common problems, lack of sleep high on the list, and exchange hints and ideas.

“I jump in with clinical support as needed,” she said. Other weeks, she arranges crafts or speakers. There are usually about eight women participating. Once the weather gets warmer and she can open the windows wide, she can expand the number of participants, she said.

In addition, the center offers CPR classes focusing on the special needs of infants. Nemeth sees it as part of preparation for starting babies on solid food.

Nemeth is assisted by two other RNs, Barbara Donnelly and Kathleen Burke. All three are international board certified lactation consultants. Each of them has a decade or more of hospital experience and Burke still works at St. Peter’s Hospital in Albany. In fact, the three of them worked together at St. Peter’s.

An intern, Sarah Henderson, is pursuing certification. Nemeth’s husband, Steve Nemeth III, does non-clinical work.

The business is named after the Nemeths’ daughter, Savanah, six and a half years old, nicknamed Savvy. They also have a son, Austin, almost four.

“My daughter was the inspiration behind the business name . . . and AJ, well, he tested my clinical knowledge during our breastfeed-

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BY SUSAN ELISE CAMPBELL

Sean Finnegan once researched stocks and bonds for his clients, but now he is fi nding the best Medicare Advantage plans for their specific needs as an independent Medicare broker.

Over the decade he was a fi nancial advisor his clients often asked him questions about Medicare. He decided to look into how health insurance supplements worked.

“I literally thought: I can make a living helping people make this decision,” he said. For three years he worked as an independent Medicare Advantage broker on the side of his fi nancial advisory role. Then he gave up his securities licenses and founded Saratoga Medicare Group, LLC at 125 High Rock Ave. in Saratoga.

Then COVID happened.

“It was hard for me at fi rst to help clients over the phone because I’m a hands-on kind of guy,” Finnegan said. “That is how I build my client’s trust and how they know I am looking out for their best interests.”

Finnegan said the Center for Medicare Services made the role of an Independent Medicare Advantage Broker easier during the pandemic by improving on-line applications and making compliance more streamlined. Finnegan “was happy to sit down and show people what’s available and most cost effective for them” as safety mandates lifted.

As an independent, there is no advantage for Finnegan to enroll clients in one plan over another, he said. Medicare pays him the same fee regardless of the insurance company the client selects.

“I convey the information, but the client decides,” he said.

There’s an open enrollment period for Medicare recipients to join, switch or drop a plan. It runs from Oct. 15 to Dec. 7 each year and is effective the following calendar year.

Finnegan is busiest then, checking out the changes and costs associated with the various insurance carriers. But he said he is actively involved with new and existing clients all 12 months.

“Th is is not public knowledge, but there are ways to switch plans during the year,” he said. “My client may have enrolled in a pharmaceutical assistance plan, or there may have been an event, such as moving or a change in their health condition, which enables them to make changes outside that window.”

Finnegan starts enrollment season investigating all available plans in New York, which are dominated by three or four major carriers, he said. He uses soft ware that compares the features and costs of the plans, which he then shows side-by-side to the client.

“When they are shown benefits on the monitor, sometimes they see one and say, ‘I want that,’” he said. “But the puzzle pieces are matching a plan that covers both the client’s prescriptions and their doctors. If the plan does not completely cover both, we may have to do some triage and think outside the box.”

For example, perhaps one plan includes their physician but not all their medications. One option might be to pick the plan and look for a discount prescription app, such as Good Rx, or search for coupons, he said.

“It always ends up working out,” said Finnegan. “The medication may even be available cheaper than it was under that plan.”

Finnegan said he stays proactive and in constant contact with clients. Oftentimes they’ll call him after receiving a communication.

“I tell them, just read me a part of the letter or send me a picture of it,” he said. “Usually I can tell them to just throw it away, but sometimes it is resolved in a few minutes. Whatever you do, don’t call their 800 number. About 90 percent don’t have to make a call and for the other 10 percent, we can contact the company together.

That level of service helps him determine, based on their conversations and client feedback, which companies are doing a good job responding and which are poor at customer

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