Sarah Varney

Sarah Varney was a senior correspondent for KFF Health News until August 2023.

@SarahVarney4

Essential Worker Shoulders $1,840 Pandemic Debt Due To COVID Cost Loophole

KFF Health News Original

Carmen Quintero had symptoms of COVID-19, couldn’t get tested and ended up with a huge bill. She also was told to self-isolate and assume she had the coronavirus — which is hard when you live with elders.

Dr. J. Ronald Verrier Was Busy Saving Lives Before The Pandemic

KFF Health News Original

Dr. J. Ronald Verrier, a surgeon at St. Barnabas Hospital in the Bronx, spent the final weeks of his audacious, unfinished life tending to a torrent of patients inflicted with COVID-19. He died April 8 at Mount Sinai South Nassau Hospital in Oceanside, New York, at age 59, after falling ill from the novel coronavirus.

One-On-One With Trump’s Medicare And Medicaid Chief: Seema Verma

KFF Health News Original

Seema Verma, the administrator for the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, sat down for a rare interview with KHN senior correspondent Sarah Varney. They discuss her views on President Donald Trump’s plan for sustaining public health insurance programs, how the administration would respond if Obamacare is struck down by the courts in the future and her thoughts on how the latest “Medicare for All” proposals would affect innovation and access to care.

Federally Funded Obria Prescribes Abstinence To Stop The Spread Of STDs

KFF Health News Original

Obria, a Christian medical chain, was awarded federal family planning funds for its California clinics for the first time this year. Clinics receiving Title X funds are expected to treat and prevent sexually transmitted diseases. Obria’s prohibition against condoms means its prevention efforts rest on abstinence, even as STD rates surge.

5 Takeaways From Court Arguments On Trump’s New Abortion Referral Rule

KFF Health News Original

The legal fight over the Trump administration’s new rule barring health clinics that receive federal family planning grants from referring women for abortion services played out before a divided federal appeals court Monday. Here are key takeaways.

In India’s Slums, ‘Painkillers Are Part Of The Daily Routine’

KFF Health News Original

As the Indian government reluctantly loosens its prescription opioid laws after decades of lobbying by palliative care advocates desperate to ease their patients’ pain, the nation’s sprawling, cash-fed health care system is ripe for misuse.

Beset By Lawsuits And Criticism In U.S., Opioid Makers Eye New Market In India

KFF Health News Original

What began in India as a populist movement to bring inexpensive morphine to the diseased and dying poor has paved the way for a booming pain management industry. Now, new customers are being funneled to U.S. drugmakers bedeviled by a government crackdown back home.

Inspector Paints A Rosy Picture Of Migrant Detention Centers — In Contrast To Audits

KFF Health News Original

A KHN review of dozens of inspection reports filed over the past year by the Nakamoto Group reveals disturbing patterns about the company’s audits, including a general willingness to accept accounts of the facilities that the company is paid to scrutinize, and to discount detainees’ complaints.

Watch: High Cost Of Insulin Sends Americans To Canada To Stock Up

KFF Health News Original

KHN, in collaboration with PBS NewsHour, reports on the skyrocketing cost of insulin — and the trend’s deadly consequences. The price in the U.S. nearly doubled from 2012 to 2016, prompting some patients and activists to travel to Canada, where insulin can be 90% cheaper.

Watchdogs Cite Lax Medical And Mental Health Treatment Of ICE Detainees

KFF Health News Original

The Adelanto ICE Processing Center houses nearly 2,000 people in California. Federal, state and watchdog reviews say the Florida-based firm that runs the facility fails to provide adequate health care.

Beyond Beltway’s ‘Medicare-For-All’ Talk, Democrats In States Push New Health Laws

KFF Health News Original

As calls for “Medicare-for-all” grow louder among Democrats in Congress, Democratic governors and mayors have been pushing ahead with urgency to corral medical costs and bring health care to those who remain uninsured.