Ellen Allen: Cheaper mastectomy bra won’t fix big ugly bill (Opinion)

This Op-Ed was originally published September 1, 2026 by Charleston Gazette-Mail. 

Rep. Carol Miller, R-W.Va., wants West Virginians to know she is fighting for breast cancer survivors.

Miller, who represents West Virginia’s 1st Congressional District, recently introduced a bipartisan bill to make silicone breast prosthetics and mastectomy bras more affordable by changing their federal tariff classifications. These are important products, and no breast cancer survivor should face unnecessary financial barriers to obtaining them.

But there is a much bigger question West Virginians should be asking: What good is making a mastectomy bra more affordable if the policies you voted for make it harder for a cancer patient to get the healthcare she needs in the first place?

Miller voted for H.R. 1, the “One Big Beautiful Bill Act,” legislation that makes sweeping cuts to Medicaid and changes how millions of Americans will qualify for and maintain coverage. The Congressional Research Service estimates the law will reduce federal Medicaid spending by
nearly $1 trillion over 10 years and increase the number of uninsured Americans by 10 million by 2034.

For West Virginia, the consequences are not theoretical. Our state is expected to lose more than $1 billion a year in Medicaid funding once the law is fully implemented. West Virginia hospitals have warned that those losses will force difficult decisions about the services they can continue to provide. And the West Virginia Rural Health Association warned that seven of our rural hospitals are at risk of closure because of the Medicaid cuts contained in the legislation.

That matters to cancer patients. A patient undergoing chemotherapy cannot simply wait until her local hospital has the resources to keep providing care. A woman who discovers a lump cannot postpone a diagnostic test because her Medicaid coverage has been disrupted. A
cancer survivor should not have to worry that the hospital where she receives follow-up care may be forced to cut services because of lost Medicaid revenue.

Cancer care is broad, complicated, expensive

Cancer care is about much more than what happens after a mastectomy. It is the mammogram that catches cancer early. The biopsy that determines what comes next. The oncologist who develops a treatment plan. The infusion center where chemotherapy is administered. Radiation treatment. Emergency care when complications arise. And it is having insurance coverage to pay for all of it.

West Virginia already has an urgent need to protect access to cancer care, particularly for uninsured and underinsured women. The state’s Breast and Cervical Cancer Screening Program helps connect eligible women with screening and, when cancer is diagnosed, treatment coverage through Medicaid.

So, when Congress makes it harder for people to maintain Medicaid coverage and reduces federal funding flowing into the state’s health care system, West Virginians have every right to ask what happens to the cancer patients who depend on that system.

Miller’s new legislation deserves credit for addressing one narrow cost facing breast cancer survivors. But one narrow bill does not erase the consequences of a much broader vote.

H.R. 1 is now being followed by federal money intended to help rural communities absorb some of the damage. West Virginia received $199 million in the first year of the Rural Health Transformation Program created by the law. But that does not erase the estimated $1 billion
in annual Medicaid losses facing the state’s hospitals.

Rep. Miller’s solution is helpful, but narrowly targeted

West Virginia cancer survivors deserve more than a narrowly targeted solution. They deserve access to screening, diagnosis and treatment. They deserve rural hospitals strong enough to keep their doors open. And they deserve elected officials who consider the consequences of their votes before those consequences reach their constituents.

Congresswoman Miller’s bill may help some breast cancer survivors save money on important medical products. That is worth acknowledging. But West Virginians should also consider the broader context: her vote for H.R. 1.

A narrowly targeted bill addressing one cost facing cancer survivors does not erase the broader consequences of policies that put Medicaid, rural hospitals and access to care at risk.

Cancer survivors need more than an affordable prosthetic. They deserve the healthcare that will allow them to become cancer survivors.