Most people would prefer not to think about the possibility of a life or death decision having to be made for them if they are in a terminal condition or permanently unconscious state, but putting those closest to us in the unfortunate position of lacking the knowledge or authority to make such a decision would be far worse. In addition, the extent of your health care can have a significant impact upon your financial resources. Therefore, health care directives are an essential part of a complete estate plan. A health care directive is a written document containing your wishes about your health care. Ohio law has created several kinds of health care directives; this article discusses those and some others.
A living will is a written document in which you declare your intentions regarding the use of life sustaining treatment if you are terminal or permanently unconscious. A living will usually directs that life-sustaining medical treatment be withheld or withdrawn if a you are unable to make informed medical decisions and are terminal or permanently unconscious.
A health care power of attorney is a written document that authorizes another person to make health care decisions for you when you are unable to make them for yourself. The scope of the health care power of attorney is much broader than that of the living will because the health care power of attorney permits the authorization of medical treatment in situations other than terminal conditions and permanently unconscious states.
A Do Not Resuscitate ("DNR") order means CPR is not administered. A DNR order must be issued by a physician and is not self-executing by means of any patient document. DNR identification is a card, form, or patient document, necklace, or bracelet and signifies either (1) the person has an operative living will authorizing withholding of CPR or (2) a physician has issued a DNR order.
The Authorization to Disclose Protected Health Information ("HIPAA") form is a written document designed to protect your personal health information. With this form, you can declare which persons are authorized to receive your relevant medical information at any time. This authorization can help those designated within your health care power of attorney to make informed decisions regarding your heath care. Without this authorization, your agent may be denied access to important information concerning your health.
The advance medical directive form is a written document that allows you to specifically delineate your wishes regarding the use of life-sustaining medical treatment if you become unable to make such decisions for yourself. This form provides the opportunity to choose or reject specific treatments–thus enabling you to narrowly define any general decisions made in your living will. While your doctor will not use this form to make medical decisions against his or her professional opinion, the form can help your doctor and agent understand your wishes in complicated situations.
At Roberson Law, we recommend that you have health care directives and not include health care provisions in your general durable POA. First, most people do not want their desires with respect to various forms of health care to gain the exposure that is often required with a general durable POA. Second, you may want a different person to make health care decisions for you than the person who takes care of your financial matters. Third, a busy doctor may not have time to read through a lengthy document before making a critical decision about your health care.
The standard forms for each health care directive are available through our office. We will gladly customize your health care directives if the standard forms do not properly reflect your wishes; however, we encourage you to use the standard forms if they do reflect your values because these forms will be easily recognized by health care providers, avoid any delays caused by interpreting personalized documents, and reduce legal fees.
These documents are an aid to understanding your choices if you become incompetent; they should be used to supplement, not replace, communication among you, your family, and your physicians. You should discuss your wishes about your health care with your family and doctors and give each of your doctors a copy of each of your health care directives.