Building Relationships with Lawmakers

Speaker: Ann Rodriguez, Executive Director, i2i

Ann Rodriguez: Hey, everyone. I'm an Rodriguez. First and foremost, I'm a parent of a young adult who has a significant learning difference and general anxiety disorder and a teenager with a health condition that she will grapple with for a lifetime. I've also spent the majority of my career as a policy wonk. I have a passion for helping to strengthen laws and state regulations to improve the health and human services system for all of us.

Ann Rodriguez: I've spent the better part of 35 years working with elected officials and state and federal government leaders, I've heard from so many of them that they truly do care about how their actions in legislation and policy and local ordinances impact the individuals who are using services. And you probably already know that there is a lot of input from people who provide services and payers, um, who oversee the services. This makes sense because providers and payers have to make sure their businesses are sustainable and their services remain available. And that's important. What's at least equally important is how effective those services are for the people receiving them. That's where your expertise and your story comes in. It is critical for your personal stories to balance what elected officials and policymakers here about what makes a service worthwhile and sustainable because that means that the focus is not just on the cost of the service or the business security of providers, but it's also on the quality of the service.

Ann Rodriguez: If you've used services in the public health and human services system, or a close family member or a friend who's seen how a service has played out for your loved one, then you have expertise and experience that is invaluable. We're at a point in policy where leaders recognize that there has to be a balance between the quality of care and the cost of care, and that means that they're looking at the value of a service. Your experience is a really important factor in that formula. We don't know if the service is a quality service without knowing that the individual receiving that service thinks it's contributed to their lives and made them more successful in their personal goals. This is why if you haven't ever lent your voice into advocacy, now is the time.

Ann Rodriguez: There is a major shift in the Medicaid and state funded service system that's going on right now. North Carolina is following the national effort to focus on whole person care and they're doing that through managed care. You may have heard that term whole person care. To me. It brings a lot of promise for coordination across the different providers that you may access. Your primary care doctor, your I. D. D. Provider, your L M E M C. O. And other health and human service professionals and agencies that you may interact with. There's a new role of a care manager that will help you navigate the system. The intention is for this to make it easier for you and your loved one to use the system of services to make your life better. We're trying to figure out ways to be sure that people are getting the right level of services that do not take away from their independence and gives them choice. I have never been so hopeful. But you know what, when you have these kinds of changes, it makes it all the more critical that the voices of individuals with an I. D. D. Diagnosis, their families, their friends and their natural supports, actively helped define what changes should look like

Ann Rodriguez: What I most want to do is to encourage people to speak out and share your expertise and your experience. One way that you can do that is to keep track of the meet the needs north Carolina initiative, give whatever resources in time you may want to and look at it as an opportunity to become a stronger advocate by partnering.