A Health Care Proxy is a legal document that allows you (the principal) to appoint another person (the agent) to make health care decisions on your behalf. A Health Care Proxy only takes effect when you are unable to make health care decisions yourself, usually due to illness or incapacity. You can only name one person at a time to act as your agent on your Health Care Proxy. However, alternate agents can be named if your original agent is unable to act at the time a decision needs to be made.
When executing a Health Care Proxy, it is important to appoint an agent who will advocate on your behalf and carry out your health-care wishes. Make sure this person will be able to make the decisions that you would have made had you been able to, and not substitute his or her own judgment.
It is important to discuss your preferences regarding your health-care and medical treatment with your agent. Most importantly, be sure to discuss your desires regarding life-sustaining treatment, including artificial nutrition and hydration. Your Health Care Proxy must specify that your agent knows your wishes in order to make such decisions on your behalf.
Executing a Health Care Proxy offers you control over a situation in which you would otherwise be powerless. Discussing your wishes regarding end-of-life care with your agent will give your agent direction during a difficult time and the confidence of knowing that your wishes will be carried out. Do not delay in executing this important document and discussing your wishes with your agent.
New rules are being issued by President Obama’s health secretary that give same-sex partners more hospital visiting rights. The rules will also make it easier for partners to make medical decisions on behalf of their loved ones.
The new rules will establish that same-sex partners must receive visiting privileges that are equal to those of immediate family members. The rules will apply to any hospital that participates in the Medicaid or Medicare programs.
Before the formulation of these rules, gays and lesbians, as well as children of gay and lesbian couples, were routinely denied the basic right to visit their partner’s bedside at hospitals throughout the country. Even partners who were the designated agent in a Health Care Proxy were routinely denied access to their loved ones.
These new rules protect the rights of same-sex couples, and also expand the rights of others whose closest companions are not immediate relatives.
The Family Health Care Decisions Act, signed into law by Governor Paterson in March of 2010, establishes the right of family members and others close to an incapacitated patient to make health care decisions on that patient’s behalf when he or she is no longer able to do so.
Prior to the enactment of this Act, no one, not even a spouse or a child, could speak on behalf of an incapacitated person if he or she had not signed a health care proxy or left clear and convincing evidence regarding his or her health care wishes before becoming incapacitated. This led to situations where patients were denied the palliative care they would have wanted, or were subjected to invasive treatments they would have refused.
With the passing of this law, any incapacitated patient who has neglected to sign a Health Care Proxy will nevertheless benefit from having a surrogate make health care decisions on his or her behalf. Now, once a finding of incapacity has been determined by the patient’s physician, a surrogate must be informed. According to a priority list of individuals (in order of priority: court-ordered guardian; spouse or domestic partner; adult child; parent; adult sibling; and close friend), a surrogate will be chosen to make any and all health care decisions for the incapacitated patient, including withdrawing or withholding life-sustaining treatment, in accordance with procedures and safeguards established in the new law.
While this new law helps individuals and families during difficult times, the Act does not do away with the need for a Health Care Proxy or diminish the importance of engaging in meaningful conversations with your loved ones regarding your wishes. First, because this legislation is so new, we have yet to see how the law will be applied and implemented in a given situation. Second, your surrogate will be chosen based on who is highest on the promulgated priority list, and may not be the person who knows your wishes or the one you would have chosen to speak on your behalf. Also, if there are multiple people at the same level of priority with differing opinions, objections can be made to the surrogate’s decisions, which could lead to conflicts. This can all be avoided if you select an agent, and speak to your agent about your medical wishes.
By signing a Health Care Proxy when you are well, you can choose the person who you want to make medical decisions on your behalf should you become incapacitated. You can choose the person you believe will carry out your wishes, and you’ll avoid a potential familial dispute down the road.
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