Ellen Allen: If we can afford war, we can afford health care (Opinion)

By Ellen Allen

This op-ed was originally published March 12, 2026 in Charleston-Gazette Mail.

 

If you want to understand Washington’s priorities, follow the money.

In just days, the escalating conflict with Iran has already cost the United States an estimated $6 billion. Now the U.S. Department of Defense is reportedly preparing a $50 billion supplemental budget request to replenish weapons and military equipment being rapidly depleted.

Those same billions could have protected Americans’ health coverage instead.

The billions already spent on the war — and the $50 billion now reportedly under discussion — could easily restore the enhanced tax credits under the Affordable Care Act and undo nearly a year’s worth of the devastating cuts to Medicaid that lawmakers just approved.

Instead, leaders in Congress said the country couldn’t afford it.

Earlier this year, Congress allowed the Affordable Care Act’s enhanced premium tax credits to expire, even though they helped 22 million Americans afford coverage.

The consequences were immediate.

Across the country, premiums jumped and enrollment dropped. In West Virginia, the number of people enrolled in ACA marketplace plans has already fallen to about 55,000 as many residents simply could not afford the higher premiums once the tax credits disappeared.

These are not statistics. They are West Virginians — small business owners, farmers, early retirees and families whose jobs don’t offer health insurance.

The hypocrisy of West Virginia’s congressional leaders

Yet when the opportunity came to protect coverage, West Virginia’s congressional delegation
chose a different path.

Sens. Shelley Moore Capito and Jim Justice, along with Reps. Carol Miller and Riley Moore, all R-W.Va., supported the so-called “Big Beautiful Bill,” which includes sweeping cuts to Medicaid while doing nothing to restore the tax credits that made private coverage affordable for tens of thousands of people in our state.

For West Virginia, those choices have real consequences.

We have some of the highest rates of chronic illness in the nation. Rural hospitals already operate on razor-thin margins. Many families live one medical emergency away from a financial crisis. Programs like Medicaid and the Affordable Care Act aren’t political talking points here — they are lifelines.

And yet we’re told there’s no money. But apparently there is money for war.

Instead, West Virginians are being told to accept higher premiums, shrinking coverage and growing pressure on an already fragile health care system.

What makes this even more troubling is that the American public isn’t demanding this war in the first place. A majority of voters oppose U.S. military action in Iran — especially at a time when families are struggling to afford groceries, housing and health care.

In other words, Washington is finding billions for a war many Americans don’t want while claiming it can’t afford the health coverage millions rely on.

That’s not fiscal responsibility. It’s a failure of priorities — and a failure by Capito, the fourth-highest ranking Republican in the U.S. Senate, to stand up for West Virginians when it mattered most.

And it’s exactly the kind of decision-making that makes so many West Virginians feel their voices aren’t being heard in Washington.

West Virginians are practical people. We understand that national security matters. But so does the security of knowing you can afford to see a doctor, fill a prescription, or keep your local hospital open.

Health care is security.

If Congress can mobilize tens of billions of dollars for military operations almost overnight, it can certainly find the resources to ensure Americans can afford health care.

Here is the truth that Washington doesn’t want to admit: this isn’t about whether the United States can afford health care coverage. It’s about whether our leaders are willing to prioritize the health and financial stability of the people they represent.

Right now, tens of thousands of West Virginians are paying the price for those priorities.

And they shouldn’t have to.