Ady Barkan is co-director of the Fed Up campaign, an initiative of the Center for Popular Democracy. The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of the author. View more opinion articles on CNN.

(CNN) It's getting harder to be shocked in the Trump era. But I was recently aghast at the news that the Trump administration was proposing yet another round of tax breaks for rich people -- more than $100 billion worth, which would make Republican proposals to slash Medicaid and Medicare even more probable.

As a person living with a chronic illness, I know that programs like these are literally keeping people like me alive -- and we cannot continue to gut them to shift even more money to the very rich.

In 2016, I was diagnosed with the life-threatening disease ALS (amyotrophic lateral sclerosis). The news shook me and my family to our core. You never think something like this can happen to you, but I remain hopeful because I am fighting for a cause that is bigger than me. And thanks to the Affordable Care Act, and the Medicaid expansion that came with it, I haven't gone bankrupt as I fight to stay alive.

But Republicans continue to chip away at these hard-won, life-saving gains. When they passed their first tax cut, they made it clear that they cared more about the wealthiest 1% than about the rest of America, including sick people like me.

This is why November's midterm elections are so important, and why I'm using my platform to support candidates who embrace economic policies that will further help working families that struggle with access to quality, affordable health care.