๐ŸŽงHealth & wellness community (+ podcast!) ๐ŸฅผBoard certified ambulatory care pharmacist ๐Ÿ’ŠAdvocate for community pharmacy + appropriate med use #StopPBMAbuse

Joined November 2019
Hi #TwittRx - allow me to (re)introduce myself. I am a community pharmacist with a passion for all things education: pharmacy students, wellness, lifestyle medicine, appropriate medication use, and how PBMs are negatively impacting our (broken) healthcare system.
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LONG TERM strategy: improve insulin resistance - increase muscle - lose weight through calorie restriction (sorry! That's what the data supports) SHORT TERM strategy: blood glucose control - balanced meals - increase fiber - walk after eating Both important for health!!!
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"you should not wait until you are sick to start caring about your gut health. This is so important for digestion... For brain health, but also for our brain health, our hormones, our hormonal balance" - @theguthealthmd
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Katie Trotta, PharmD, BCACP retweeted
๐Œ๐ž๐๐ข๐œ๐š๐ซ๐ž ๐ข๐ฌ ๐ฉ๐š๐ฒ๐ข๐ง๐  ๐ƒ๐จ๐œ๐ญ๐จ๐ซ๐ฌ ๐Ÿ๐Ÿ—๐Ÿ—๐Ÿ– ๐ฐ๐š๐ ๐ž๐ฌ ๐ญ๐จ ๐ฉ๐ซ๐š๐œ๐ญ๐ข๐œ๐ž ๐Ÿ๐ŸŽ๐Ÿ๐Ÿ“ ๐ฆ๐ž๐๐ข๐œ๐ข๐ง๐ž. ๐’๐ข๐ง๐œ๐ž ๐Ÿ๐Ÿ—๐Ÿ—๐Ÿ–, ๐ข๐ง๐Ÿ๐ฅ๐š๐ญ๐ข๐จ๐ง ๐ก๐š๐ฌ ๐ซ๐ข๐ฌ๐ž๐ง ๐Ÿ–๐Ÿ.๐Ÿ%. Medicareโ€™s physician payment formula (the Conversion Factor)? Down 9.9%. Thatโ€™s not โ€œfiscal responsibility.โ€ Thatโ€™s institutional gaslighting. ๐Œ๐ž๐š๐ง๐ฐ๐ก๐ข๐ฅ๐ž, ๐๐ž๐Ÿ๐ž๐ง๐ฌ๐ž ๐œ๐จ๐ง๐ญ๐ซ๐š๐œ๐ญ๐ฌ, ๐‚๐„๐Ž ๐ฌ๐š๐ฅ๐š๐ซ๐ข๐ž๐ฌ, ๐š๐ง๐ ๐ข๐ง๐ฌ๐ข๐๐ž๐ซ ๐ญ๐ซ๐š๐๐ž๐ฌ ๐Ÿ๐ฅ๐จ๐ฎ๐ซ๐ข๐ฌ๐ก. But the doctors treating Medicare patients? Theyโ€™re being asked to do more with less, year after year, because โ€œ๐ก๐ž๐ฒ, ๐ฐ๐ž ๐๐จ๐งโ€™๐ญ ๐ก๐š๐ฏ๐ž ๐ญ๐ข๐ฆ๐ž ๐ญ๐จ ๐›๐ซ๐ข๐›๐ž ๐‚๐จ๐ง๐ ๐ซ๐ž๐ฌ๐ฌ ๐ฅ๐ข๐ค๐ž ๐ž๐ฏ๐ž๐ซ๐ฒ๐จ๐ง๐ž ๐ž๐ฅ๐ฌ๐žโ€, while the cost of running a practice skyrockets. If the American people want Congress to preserve access to care for aging Americans, itโ€™s time to speak up and tie Medicareโ€™s payment formula to inflation, just like their own salaries. ๐”๐ง๐ญ๐ข๐ฅ ๐ญ๐ก๐ž๐ง, ๐ ๐จ๐จ๐ ๐ฅ๐ฎ๐œ๐ค ๐Ÿ๐ข๐ง๐๐ข๐ง๐  ๐š ๐๐จ๐œ๐ญ๐จ๐ซ ๐ฐ๐ก๐จโ€™๐ฅ๐ฅ ๐ญ๐š๐ค๐ž ๐Œ๐ž๐๐ข๐œ๐š๐ซ๐ž. Theyโ€™re busy trying to survive the 20th century in the 21st. #HealthcarePolicy #Medicare #PhysicianBurnout #InflationMath #FixTheFormula
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What happens when you eat a diverse diet: 1. Each plant food brings its own mix of fibers, micronutrients, and polyphenols 2. Diversity in the diet = diversity in the microbiome 3. All of the bugs in the gut have unique health benefits for the body ๐Ÿ“๐Ÿ…๐ŸŠ๐ŸŒ๐Ÿซ›๐Ÿฅ๐Ÿฅ‘๐Ÿซ๐Ÿ†๐Ÿ ๐Ÿซœ
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Health effects of these bugs: - strong immune system - improved gut lining (no leaky gut!) - great digestion - reduced inflammation - weight maintenance - longevity Biggest gut benefits are seen on those who eat at least 30 different plant foods each week ๐Ÿ“๐Ÿ…๐ŸŠ๐ŸŒ๐Ÿซ›๐Ÿฅ๐Ÿฅ‘๐Ÿซ๐Ÿ†๐Ÿ ๐Ÿซœ
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Two things to remember about protein: 1. Focusing on fiber at each meal is just as important as protein for blood sugar, maintaining feelings of fullness, reduced risk of cardiovascular disease...just to name a few. 2. A high-protein ultraprocessed food is still ultraprocessed.
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Bipartisan healthcare issues for 2025: - fruits & veggies are healthy - movement throughout the day is great for blood glucose - obesity can't be blamed solely on genes - restful sleep is essential for health - being in a constant state of stress will dampen your health progress
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This man must be in my head because these exact words have come out of my mouth. In the drug pricing world today, pharma needs to price their drugs high to make the same amount off their brand name drugs they made 10 years go. The rest goes back to the PBM in kickbacks.
Itโ€™s a breath of fresh air to see a Governor without his head in the sand on PBMs
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Monday reminder ๐Ÿ”† Minimal effort does not yield maximum results. To be the best version of you, you have to try your best. Health included.
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Quick reminder that the US spends $4 trillion on healthcare annually. Big business = big money. But businesses can't make money if they don't have customers. So what does this mean for you?
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Don't be a customer! When your wellness girlies tell you to let that sunshine hit your eyeballs, focus on fiber, get those steps in, and sleep a solid 8 hours every night...we aren't elitist. We just want you healthy. We don't want you to be a customer.
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Longevity biohack, fitness edition: increase your cardiorespiratory fitness. VO2 max, or peak oxygen uptake, is the max amount of oxygen the body can use during exercise. Studies show "below average" VO2 max influences 50% mortality reduction over a decade compared to "low".
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Katie Trotta, PharmD, BCACP retweeted
Worked with some awesome colleagues and former students on this scoping review of literature related to the impact that PBMs have on community pharmacies. sciencedirect.com/science/arโ€ฆ
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Sad truth: Big Food WANTS you to be confused about what's healthy. The relationship between research funding + bias is clear: studies funded by a food/beverage company are more likely to show positive health effects from consuming their products. Solution? Eat real, whole foods
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WATCH: After @ChuckGrassley asks what the antitrust agencies are doing about PBMs that raise drug prices, harm patients, and hurt local pharmacists, @linakhanFTC breaks down how the @FTC is cracking down on the industry.
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Truth: a calorie deficit is necessary for weight loss. Truth: food acts as instructions for how the body responds to said calories. Real, whole foods provide nutrients + nourishment โฉ satiety. Ultra-processed foods are extremely calorie dense + nutrient poor โฉ hunger.
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Everyone sharing their research presentations from #APhA2023 so I'll join in. Proud of our CPHS residents! #TwitteRx
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Katie Trotta, PharmD, BCACP retweeted
The winner of competition between Amjevita (-55%) and Amjevita (-5%) is higher $$ Amjevita. Clear ex. how biosims on PHARMACY side do NOT bring prices down. CVS makes more $$ on higher list pr The battle to win formulary placement is no different w/ biosims, highest price WINS!
Huh? @CVSHealth $CVS #PBM admits "plan sponsors will benefit from significant savings" of #biosimilars Sorry, patients! #Amjevita (list price -55% vs. #Humira) is non-preferred, i.e., not lowest cost for patients with deductibles or coinsurance Yuck. drugch.nl/3Fya0v4
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A few things to avoid if you're working on improving your gut health: - artificial sweeteners - carrageenan and other gums/emulsifiers - glyphosate - fried foods - antibiotics (when possible)
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