Rylin Rodgers

Rylin Rodgers, mom to two (now teenagers) who have complex health care needs is focused on ensuring that families understand how to affect the services that that touch their lives. Rylin currently serves as the Training Director and Family Leadership Coordinator for the Riley Child Development Center and is a founding leader of Family Voices Indiana.

Blog Post List

Health Care

December 31, 2017

For me, 2017 was an overwhelming marathon of organizing, educating and activating, all in the service of trying to save access to health care for millions. Much has been said of the wins and of the losses. But today is for looking forward. What can we do -- and should we do -- in 2018? Where will we be needed and how can we each make a difference? For me, the list is long but clear. Here are some top priorities: 1. Connecting People to Care: A shortened ACA enrollment, new waivers granted to states around their Medicaid programs, failures to fund community health programs and commit to a long...

MomsRising Together

Health Care

November 27, 2017

Too often, policy, tax and budget debates are framed in terms of winners and losers at the program, department, budget line, and income group or business level. For our families this is not wonky abstraction, it is real life, woven into every part of our days. Families raising children who have special health care needs and disabilities are impacted every day by services related to health care, education, housing, nutrition and transportation. In these debates, a child growing up with a complex health care need or disability is the real winner – and, frankly, too often the loser. The tax...

MomsRising Together

Health Care

September 27, 2017

Rylin's daughter wrote this essay for college applications. Although Graham-Cassidy has been defeated and the Affordable Care Act continues to protect families' health care, the Rodgers' family story makes clear how important health care is--and reminds us that sharing our stories can help change legislators' hearts and minds, and help us WIN for women and families. Describe an early memory. What did it mean to you then? What does it mean to you now? (250-650 words) The nearest Stride Rite looked a bit like a toy store, with a rainbow carpet and wooden shelves adorned with shoes in every...

MomsRising Together

Health Care

September 21, 2017

I work in a children’s hospital. The same children’s hospital that has provided the complex care my children have needed. Today, I found myself looking at the families in the halls, knowing that their children by virtue of being here would be negatively impacted by #GrahamCassidy. For my family, and for other families who are raising children who have complex health care needs, this health care debate is personal. The ACA is not perfect, but it was a life-changing, life-saving step forward for my family and for our country. My two children – Matthew, 20, and Laura, 17 – born with complex...

MomsRising Together

Health Care

September 3, 2017

August and September mean back to school in my house and in many others throughout the country. In preparation, we went through the annual rituals of gathering supplies, assessing clothing needs and the adjustment of bedtime for everyone in the house as we tried to get our bodies, as well as our minds, back into “school mode.” For families raising children with complex health care needs and disabilities there are a few extra back-to-school tasks, like updating health and emergency plans, dropping off medical supplies, facilitating training of key staff. For our family, there were also the...

MomsRising Together

Health Care

July 31, 2017

Following the election we knew immediately that a fight for Health Care was coming. The effort to protect care has been a longer and harder experience than we ever could have imagined. And, it is not over. This is a fair moment to reflect on the journey and identify lessons learned to build from for the next act. The national effort to save the ACA and Medicaid began even before the inauguration with the Republican-controlled Congress moving for a “fast and filibuster-proof” path to keep what was a Republican campaign promise to repeal and replace the ACA. On January 12th, the Senate (51 to...

MomsRising Together

Health Care

March 28, 2017

The phones in Congressional Offices are ringing off the hook these days. Some Americans are calling their Representative and Senators for the first time. Some of us are calling more frequently. People are crowding into public meetings. Letters, postcards and faxes are being sent. It is all enough to swell the hearts of America’s high school government teachers with joy! It’s exciting. We should be engaged with our policy makers and we should keep it up . But soon enough we might be wondering what impact we are having and what, if anything, we are accomplishing. It is easy to get discouraged...

MomsRising Together

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My 2018 To Do List

Let's Talk about Tax Policy: Really.

"This is when lifetime limits and pre-existing conditions almost killed me and my brother"

If Senators walked the halls of Children’s Hospitals

Back to School...

Health Care Debate Deep Breath

The Making of a Champion