Marilyn Bartlett took a deep breath, drew herself up to her full 5 feet and a smidge, and told the assembled handful of Montana officials that she had a radical strategy to bail out the state’s foundering benefit plan for its 30,000 employees and their families. The officials were listening. Their health plan was going broke…. Bartlett came with some unique qualifications. She had just spent 13 years on the insurance industry side…. Most importantly, Bartlett understood something the state officials didn’t: the side deals, kickbacks and lucrative clauses that …. [help] explain why Americans pay the highest health care costs in the world — and why the tab continues to increase, year after year…. And so Bartlett pitched a bold strategy…  READ MORE