Be Wary of Generic Health Care Proxy Forms

Hospitals often give patients a health care proxy form to sign on being admitted. While it might seem easy to sign a generic health care proxy form, having a document that is specifically tailored to your needs is very important.

A health care proxy allows you to appoint someone else to act as your agent for medical decisions. In general, a health care proxy takes effect only when you require medical treatment and a physician determines that you are unable to communicate your own wishes concerning what that treatment should be. Appointing someone to serve as your agent helps to ensure that your medical treatment instructions will be carried out exactly as you wish them to be.

While a health care proxy serves to appoint an agent to speak for you, you can also use it to give the agent guidance about your medical wishes. The following are some issues that can be addressed in a health care proxy:

* The name of the person authorized to act for you. It is important to appoint an alternate as well.
* If you are terminally ill, in a coma, or have brain damage with no hope of recovery, you can explain the kind of treatment you do NOT want. For example, do you want feeding tubes, resuscitation, dialysis, or blood transfusions?
* Whether or not you want to be kept alive by machines if you are in a persistent vegetative state.
* Under what circumstances would you want pain medication to be administered.
* Whether or not you want to donate your organs.
* Whether you want to be cremated or buried . . . where and how your remains should be disposed of.
* HIPAA designation so your physician can speak to your Agent(s).
* Guardianship and Conservatorship nominations to eliminate time in Probate Court.

Whatever choices you make, it is important that you take time to consider your health care wishes before putting your signature on a health care proxy. For this reason, signing a generic hospital form is not a good idea, because such a form may not take your individual wishes into account. Additionally, and very importantly, if you already have a health care proxy as a part of your estate plan, the generic form will revoke your more personal health care proxy that you gives you more protections.

A qualified attorney can help you create a document that addresses your situation.

WHY BUY LONG TERM CARE INSURANCE?

1. It will help you keep your independence and dignity and allow you to make choices. When the time comes for paying for your long term care needs, you may end up spending your savings and then relying on Medicaid for assistance.

2. If you are married and you have a need for long term care, your spouse may be forced to pay for an outside caregiver. The cost is likely to come from your combined income and assets. This may leave your spouse with minimal funds in the future. Insurance solves this problem and allows the healthy spouse to keep the assets.

3. Many healthy care-giving spouses won't spend their money and choose to "tough it out" on their own without help. If care of a disabled spouse drags on too long, this can have a devastating effect on the physical and emotion health of the caregiver. Insurance will help to pay for professional care for the disabled spouse and allow the caregiver spouse needed rest.

4. If your children promise to take care of you when the time comes that you need care, insurance will help them do that. Probably neither you nor your children have thought of the prospects of moving you from place to place, changing your dirty diapers, cleaning up after "accidents" in the bathroom or helping you with bathing and dressing. Insurance will pay for aides to help your children with these tasks.

5. If you are single and a need for long term care arises, insurance can pay for and coordinate that care. With insurance you won't have to feel you would be a burden for family or friends.

6. If you have the desire to leave assets behind when you die, insurance will help preserve those assets from the cost of long term care.