Laura Gustavson

Marketect of great healthcare brands. Avid explorer of our amazing planet. Trying-my-best mother of twins.

[Dave W @dmweisberger]

I just spent 2 incredible weeks in Italy and it is so frustrating to come back to the U.S…

How is it possible @RobertKennedyJr that the Italian food supply is so vastly superior.

I literally ate bread at every meal, dessert multiple times per day, and generally ate way more than I do in the U.S.

Not once did I have acid reflux. Not one headache, no digestive problems, and I didn’t gain any weight.

If I ate the same way in the U.S. (I used to at times) I would have gone through a full bottle of Tums and Advil just to get through the day…

WHY does the U.S. allow glyphosate in wheat, high fructose corn syrup in food and who knows what in our milk products?

The difference in quality of life in Italy vs the U.S. is staggering from their common sense (anti corporate) food regulation.

WHY aren’t more people upset about this?

The U.S. is the richest country in the world and we eat like one of the poorest.

[Mark Cuban @mcuban]

The greatest problem in healthcare ? Hospitals, even market dominant hospitals, won’t walk away from the big ins companies that underpay, late pay, clawback, deny claims, waste their time in denial appeals, and require them to pay up to 8 pct of revenue to RCM consultants so they think they are getting what they are owed.

Here is the crazy part. The ins companies ARE NOT THE ONES ACTUALLY PAYING THEM on commercial plans. Employers are.

60 pct of employees get their insurance from their self insured employers. The ins carrier is just a middleman that pretends to add value.

All the clinical “value” they add, the hospital could do better, for both medical and pharmacy.

Most hospitals have no idea whether they make or lose money with their big ins contracts. They are just afraid to lose patient flow.

But. They actually know which companies their patients are coming from. They actually know or can find out, how much more the employers are paying the ins company, than what the ins company pays them (the spread, just like in pharmacy )

And to make it worse, those ins companies negotiate their rates as a discount from the “charge master “, which is like WAC in pharmacy. Just a made up list price.

Because the hospitals are afraid or too uninformed to walk away from these deals, the hospitals use the inflated charge master prices as the basis to charge uninsured , or out of network , or insured but not covered for their care, at charge master rates. Which of course the patients can’t afford. And it crushes their finances or they go without care

I’ll summarize. Employers , and their members , are paying far more than they should to companies they don’t like working with , that effectively rip off both the employer and hospital , and they could eliminate the middlemen if they went directly to to the employer.

It’s so simple. Sell your services to the employers that use your services at a price that is less than what nine companies charge for your services and you will make MORE money and employers will save a ton

And if they did this, they could dump the chargemaster and reduce the price they bill patients when they are at their most vulnerable

But they don’t want to change. And don’t get me started on how much hospitals over pay for drugs and devices because of the GPO deals they do. It’s just stupid.

Which in turn leads to the hospital being a bad actor with 340b , facilities fees and afraid of their doctors who demand they pay more for things like glue and implants so they can get vacations.

If you are a politician and reading this. Now you know why this is so fucked up and it’s not about capping rates. The insurance companies are smarter than you. They will just move the money to other places. It’s not about giving money to patients. You can’t shop for care from hospitals that are too gutless to walk away from the ins companies that distort all of healthcare economics

Go to your local hospitals , particularly those at risk of closing and ask for their profitability by carrier. Fully burdened. Ask how much they spend on RCM and consultants. In many cases they could survive if they ran like a real business and hired execs that could do the work rather than just manage consultants. They could work out contracts in their communities rather than with ins companies and benefit everyone.

The middlemen are not needed. Get rid of them

[FBI Agents Association @FBIAgentsAssoc]

The FBI Agents Association statement on the passing of Former FBI Director Robert Mueller:

“The FBI Agents Association (FBIAA) mourns the passing of Robert Mueller, who served our nation as Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) from 2001 to 2013. A lifelong public servant—a decorated Marine, a Vietnam veteran, a Department of Justice prosecutor, and FBI Director in the years following the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks—Director Mueller led the Bureau during a period of significant change and played an important role in strengthening its ability to confront evolving national security threats while maintaining its core criminal investigative mission.

The FBIAA extends its condolences to Director Mueller’s family and honors his commitment to public service and to the FBI’s mission.”

[Ann Vandersteel™️ @annvandersteel]

OK I'll be the one to say it: No one is holding Nancy Guthrie for ransom.

If they were, her daughter’s $40 million net worth would have produced a seven-figure demand by now, and the woman would be home safe, case closed.

Instead, we’re fed a slow drip of non-facts, non-evidence, and carefully curated ambiguity designed to keep the spotlight locked in place.

I was born at night, but it wasn’t last night.

The sad, infuriating truth is that what we call “the news” has become a reality-control device.

Nancy Guthrie vanishes, and suddenly—poof:

No more ICE protests clogging the airwaves.

No discussion of the SAVE Act.

No scrutiny of border numbers or cartel pipelines.

No follow-up on the thousands of unaccompanied minors still missing from HHS custody.

One carefully amplified disappearance, and the entire national conversation pivots on command.

The MEDIA MACHINE selects which crisis gets oxygen - and which ones suffocate in silence.

And we’re left watching the approved story while the real ones bleed out off-screen.

Just thought you should know.

[Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez @AOC]

Totally agree @mcuban.

In no world should one company own the insurer, the drug manufacturer, the PBM, the pharmacy, the clinics, and on and on.

The resulting monopolies price people out of care and people lose their lives.

Healthcare is a right. Break them up.

[Joseph Allen @j_g_allen]

Incredible study. Also shows most of the gains happen at 5 MET hours per week. To help people understand what that actually means for them, I had Gemini convert this to hours per week. (doesn't take much, folks!)

[Lucas Sanders 👊🏽🔥🇺🇸 @LucasSa56947288]

FOLKS! The X-algorithm is trying to hide the massive Minneapolis ICE OUT strike.

Please share. SPREAD THE WORD! 👇🏾✊🏾

[Protect Kamala Harris ✊ @DisavowTrump20]

🚨NEW: Elon Musk has suspended U.S. Senator Amy Klobuchar's Twitter account. This comes as the Trump Administration and its allies ratchet up attacks on Minnesota in the aftermath of the ICE Renee Good killing.

RETWEET if you stand with @AmyKlobuchar!

[Mysticismail @xclusive_mystic]

A teacher gave a balloon to every student, who had to inflate it, write their name on it, and throw it in the hallway.

The teacher then mixed all the balloons. The students were given 5 minutes to find their own balloon.

Despite a hectic search, no one found their balloon, At that point, the teacher told the students to take the first balloon they found and hand it to the person whose name was written on it.

Within 5 minutes, everyone had their own balloon. The teacher said to the students, "These balloons arelike happiness.

We will never find it if everyone is
looking for their own. But if we care about other people's happiness, we'll find ours too."

May your day be filled with happiness!🎉

[Laura Gustavson @GusLaura]

@MetabolicFactor 1/4 teaspoon of salt everyday? Hypertension???

[Laura Gustavson @GusLaura]

@AlaskaAir Pack lightly. Nothing more than you can carry yourself!

[Ami Bhatt, MD @AmiBhattMD]

A new study with over 500,000 participants studied which habits protects the heart against sudden cardiac arrest.

What they discovered will shock you:
(This isn’t medical advice—just something interesting to think about. No endorsements, just sharing.)

[Laura Gustavson @GusLaura]

No camping trip will ever be complete again without my @DeLILLECELLARS

[Laura Gustavson @GusLaura]

@elonmusk According to the WHO, 733 million people faced hunger in 2023 globally. That’s 1 in 11 people. Explain to me how decreasing population is a problem.

[Kestra Medical Technologies @KestraMedical]

New Real-world Data on ASSURE® WCD Presented Today at HRS 2025 

This new analysis highlights high compliance, a 4% incidence of ventricular arrhythmias, and 100% first shock success with the ASSURE® WCD. 

📄 Read the abstract: https://t.co/FlwCgwUf1o

[Don Winslow @donwinslow]

Democrats have lost:

1. The White House 2. The Senate
3. The House 4. The Supreme Court
5. The Dept. of Education 6. The Justice Department
7. The FBI

Why exactly are we sticking with current Democratic leadership?

[Brian Krassenstein @krassenstein]

BREAKING: AOC and Bernie are doing what every Democrat should today in Las Vegas… Can anyone argue against AOC here?

“What they like to call as radical, I believe is common sense.”

AOC is the future of the Democratic Party. She’s the only one willing to fight back with common sense. Take note Democrats. This is how you do it.

[Cory Booker @CoryBooker]

Elon Musk isn't going to save the government any money. It's the opposite, in fact.

He's currently pursuing a move that could blow a multi-trillion-dollar hole in the federal budget and let billionaires get away with tax evasion.

Here's how 🧵

[Laura Gustavson @GusLaura]

@elonmusk Republicans have control of the House, Senate and White House. If the government shuts down, it’s on them.

[Kestra Medical Technologies @KestraMedical]

Kestra and the ASSURE System Take Times Square!