Alison Kodjak

A quirk in the law gives an older opioid addiction treatment "orphan drug" status — and a period of exclusive market access. That may prevent some new therapies from reaching patients for years.

Lawmakers in the House and Senate are pressing companies to lower prices for insulin which is essential for many people with diabetes. The price is 10 times higher today than it was 20 years ago.

The Trump administration wants to increase transparency in prescription drug pricing. But health economists say the administration's call to tie prices to what other nations pay might work better.

Democratic Sen. Kamala Harris, who's a candidate for the 2020 presidential election, has endorsed "Medicare for all." But the details of what that means are rather elusive.

Voters in Idaho, Utah and Nebraska approved ballot initiatives to expand Medicaid, overcoming roadblocks that had kept an estimated 300,000 people from obtaining coverage.

A new NPR/PBS NewsHour/Marist Poll revealed Americans' attitudes toward the current political climate. Also, the Trump administration called for a cease-fire in Yemen.

Ballot initiatives in Utah, Nebraska and Idaho will determine whether to expand Medicaid, after legislators refused to do so. Montanans will vote on whether to keep the state's expansion intact.

The governor of Arizona removed a doctor from the state's Medicaid drug committee and issued an executive order requiring disclosure of financial conflicts in response to a joint investigation by NPR and the Center for Public Integrity Investigation.

NPR's Alison Kodjak and the Center for Public Integrity have been looking at how the drug industry tries to keep Medicaid money flowing. Here they examine the industry's massive lobbying efforts.

Drug companies have infiltrated nearly every part of the process that determines how their drugs will be covered by Medicaid, an investigation by NPR and the Center for Public Integrity finds.