EP450: When Your Health Plan Is $9 Million in the Hole, Who Are You Going to Call? A CPA. And Tell Them to Bring Their Spreadsheets, With Marilyn Bartlett, CPA, CGMA, CMA, CFM

Relentless Health Value™

In Episode 450 I speak with Marilyn Bartlett, a renowned CPA in the healthcare field, about her remarkable achievement of transforming the state of Montana’s employee health plan from $9 million in debt to a surplus of $112 million within three years.

You can read the full show notes with mentioned links on the epsiode page.

If you enjoy this podcast, be sure to subscribe to the free weekly newsletter to be a member of the Relentless Tribe.

Marilyn discusses the steps she took, including identifying financial inefficiencies, targeting high-cost areas, and implementing data-driven strategies to produce quick wins and sustainable results. The conversation delves into the importance of having the right team, communicating effectively with stakeholders, and staying focused amidst challenges. Listeners will gain valuable insights into strategic change management and actionable advice for improving healthcare plans.

Yeah, I made a meme for the show with Marilyn Bartlett. My very first meme ever. In this meme, I picture that Olympic silver medalist shooter from Turkey who showed up in a T-shirt and his hand in his pocket versus the others with all their fancy equipment that, turns out, may or may not be necessary, regardless of who might swear up and down that complexity requires even more complexity and plenty of expensive gear to shoot straight.

Point being, it’s amazing what a dedicated CPA with a spreadsheet and their eye on the target can accomplish in the real world when they just do their thing and follow the dollar.

And with that, Marilyn Bartlett has entered the chat. Marilyn Bartlett isn’t called the “Queen of Healthcare” for no good reason, and nobody is joking when they say this. She was probably the first person (or one of the first, at a minimum) to truly identify the amount of money getting sucked out of the wallets of taxpayers and employers and plan members and into the pockets of the healthcare and insurance and consulting industries. She is a through and through numbers person but also deeply cares. She is truly a senior stateswoman in our field.

To read the full article with mentioned links or the transcript, visit our epsiode page.

06:45 What gave Marilyn the confidence to fix Montana’s state health plan?

08:11 Why Marilyn knew she would have enough power to make the changes needed in Montana’s state health plan.

09:11 What Marilyn achieved in her time as the administrator of the Montana State Employee Health Plan.

10:38 What were the “quick wins” Marilyn was able to achieve when she first took over as administrator?

17:33 Stay tuned for an upcoming episode that covers RFP in detail.

17:50 How Marilyn structured her plan for the Montana State Employee Health Plan.

21:21 What’s the key to setting yourself up for success when doing what Marilyn was able to achieve?

25:02 Why putting together your own team is so important.

29:07 What happened when Marilyn left the Montana State Employee Health Plan?

31:08 Have the costs of the plan gone up since Marilyn’s time working on it?