Planning for the Unexpected

When we think about having a healthy lifestyle, we often think of eating more vegetables, drinking plenty of water and getting lots of exercise.  One important element of a healthy lifestyle we often don’t think about is planning for times of poor health.  There are many steps we can take while we’re healthy to decrease the stress and worry for our family and friends when sever illness or tragedy strikes.  To plan for the unexpected, one step that everyone should take is to appoint a healthcare power of attorney.

A healthcare power of attorney is an advance directive, a legal document that tells your loved ones and healthcare professionals ahead of time your decisions concerning your end-of-life care.  The healthcare power of attorney has taken the place of other legal instruments, such as a living will, in planning for the unexpected.  A living will allows an individual to determine what life-saving measures should be taken to prolong life.  Living wills are still used and enforceable, but a healthcare power of attorney covers many more aspects of medical care and treatment.  In basic terms, a healthcare power of attorney appoints someone to be the decision maker when an ill or injured person cannot make decisions for himself of herself.  The person who has the healthcare power of attorney is only allowed to make healthcare decisions when the patient is physically unable to express his or her wishes, or has been deemed incompetent by a psychiatrist and a physician.

In appointing a healthcare power of attorney, the principal (the individual appointing someone to be his or her power of attorney) and the agent (the person appointed to make the healthcare decisions) must sign the form at the same time for the document to be valid.  While I haven’t experienced many problems with challenges to the validity of a healthcare power of attorney, I find that having the principal and the agent in the same room is a good time to review decisions and encourage discussion about my client’s wishes.

In the healthcare power of attorney document, there are multiple points where the principal can customize the powers given to the healthcare agent.  The laws permitting healthcare agents to act include precautions to prevent abuse by healthcare agents.  A healthcare agent is not permitted to admit the patient to an inpatient mental facility nor may the agent authorize experimental mental health research, psychotherapy, electroconvulsive therapy or treatment for drastic mental health procedures.  On the other hand, a healthcare agent can be given the authority to admit the principal to a nursing home or a community based residential facility, withhold or withdraw a feeding tube, make decisions for care during pregnancy and any other specific requests.

Once these decisions are made, and the principal has discussed his or her wishes with the healthcare agent, the document is not self-executing.  To be effective and enforced, the principal must give a copy of the healthcare power of attorney document to his or her healthcare providers in advance of any serious health issues.  Once a healthcare agent is needed, it may be too late to guarantee that the healthcare provider will accept the appointment.

Consider planning for the unexpected by creating a healthcare power of attorney before you need one, to ensure that you always have a voice in your healthcare decisions.