FROM MIKE’S DESK
Living Will vs. Health Care Power of Attorney: What’s the Difference?
In Pennsylvania, as an adult, you have the legal right to make your own health care decisions (with a few exceptions), as long as you have the capacity to do so. You have the right to decide whether to reject, accept, or discontinue medical care or treatment. If someday, you are unable to make those health care decisions, a Living Will and a Health Care Power of Attorney can be employed to carry out your wishes.
Let’s explore the difference between a Living Will and a Health Care Power of Attorney (Health Care POA), and which option may fit your needs.
What Is a Living Will?
In Pennsylvania law, a Living Will is a type of an Advance Directive. A Living Will is a legal document describing your intentions regarding the care you would like to receive should you become unable to make health care decisions for yourself. The Living Will allows you to retain control over your life and whether it should be controlled by the use of artificial means in the event you are incompetent, have a terminal condition, or are permanently unconscious.
The Living Will law also permits you to name someone as your surrogate to make decisions for you. There are specific decisions outlined in the Living Will that the surrogate is allowed to make. Most of them pertain to end-of-life care, as opposed to general healthcare-related decisions. Examples permitted in Pennsylvania law include decisions about treatment such as cardiac resuscitation, mechanical respiration, feeding tubes, blood products, surgery, dialysis, and antibiotics. Some religious faiths distribute their own preferred forms as well.
What Is a Healthcare Power of Attorney?
When I speak with clients about Living Wills, I also discuss preparing a Health Care POA. This is a written document in which you authorize someone (your Agent) to make health care decisions for you in the event you cannot make those decisions yourself.
What Is the Difference Between the Two?
At its core, a Health Care POA has a broader application, while a Living Will dictates decisions related to end of life circumstances. With a Health Care POA, you are able to grant your Agent the power to act on your behalf in all healthcare-related decisions in the event you cannot.
One of the biggest advantages of a Health Care POA is that it permits a health care provider to speak with your Agent. Many clients tell me that the main reason they wish to prepare a Health Care POA comes from tough personal experiences in their lives, where a doctor was unable to speak with them about their parent’s health due to the privacy concerns mandated by the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) of 1996. A Health Care POA enables you to overcome this limitation.
Need Assistance Preparing and Executing a Living Will or Health Care POA?
When exactly should you prepare these legal documents? Well, there’s no time quite like the present! Like the majority of estate planning documents, a Living Will or Health Care POA will need to be prepared and executed prior to the time you might need them. The preparation and signing of both documents, along with a Will and a General Power of Attorney are a good foundation for your estate planning.
I am happy to discuss how I can assist you with preparing all these crucial documents. Please contact me today to get started.
Michael Frisbie
Frisbie Legal Solutions
169 N. Broad Street
Doylestown, PA 18901
267-899-1776
267-899-1775 (FAX)
michael@frisbielegalsolutions.com
Frisbie Legal Solutions, PLLC, is a registered professional limited liability company in Pennsylvania. The information on this website is designed for general informational purposes only. Frisbie Legal Solutions provides legal services and advice to clients only after an attorney-client relationship has been formed through a written agreement. The information presented should not be construed to be formal legal advice nor the formation of an attorney-client relationship. Any communications sent through this website are not privileged and confidential.