Folks, something you might not know about me is that I was diagnosed with a serious illness as a child.

Fortunately, after spending three months in the hospital, I was able to recover. After I got better, my grandparents, who raised me, began to search for an insurance policy to make sure I was protected in case I ever got sick again.

But they couldn’t find one. At any price. From any insurer. All because of my previous illness, and these two words: “pre-existing condition.”

I got into public service because I watched my grandparents make enormous sacrifices to pay for my health care out of pocket. I’ll never forget what it was like to watch them stay up late at night, worrying that if I fell ill again, they wouldn’t be able to afford the care to help me get better. No one should ever have to worry about things like that.

But I know that I’m not alone in this experience. 133 million Americans know what it's like to live with the label "pre-existing condition" attached to our care — and before the Affordable Care Act was passed, many of us could be denied coverage for that exact reason.

Today, insurance companies can no longer discriminate against someone based on their pre-existing condition. I championed health reform and fought to allow young people to stay on their parent’s insurance plan up to age 26. These policy changes have helped millions more Americans access the care they need.

But our work is far from over.

As Republicans launch attacks on our health care and threaten protections for people like me with pre-existing conditions, it’s more important than ever that we defend Wisconsin and our Democratic majority in the Senate.

If Mitch McConnell and the GOP’s potential hand-picked megamillionaire challenger takes back the Senate, they could drag our country back to a time when insurance companies have the power to do whatever they want.

I’ll never stop fighting to defend accessible health care, but I can’t do this work alone. Will you make a contribution to help me defend our Senate majority and prevent Republicans from rolling back our hard-earned progress?

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Thank you,

Tammy