Health Care & Disability

The world of health care is becoming more and more complex. To meet the demands of the changing field, when you create your estate plan with us, we help you also prepare the following documents: HIPAA Release, Health Care Proxy, Advance Directive (sometimes known as a ‘Living Will’) and a Durable Power of Attorney. Each is explained in a little more detail below.

HIPAA RELEASE
We have all heard and read about privacy laws in recent years. In 1996, Congress enacted the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA). HIPAA is a major U.S. federal law that deals with a patient's right to privacy with respect to medical records. An unfortunate side effect of this legislation, however, is that sometimes doctors, nurses, and other health care providers are reluctant to share medical information with a patient's trusted loved ones. In some places, only a patient's spouse - and not his/her children - will be allowed to see the records and/or speak with the professionals about the care plan. You may want your spouse, children and/or even in-laws, who may be health care professionals to participate in these conversation so they can make informed decisions about your health care.

A HIPAA Release is a document that allows doctors and other health care professionals to share your medical information with anyone you designate in
the document, such as (but not limited to) a child, spouse, unmarried life
partner, relative, friend, or other loved one.

HEALTH CARE PROXY
A Health Care Proxy is a legal document that gives a close, trusted person the power to make all health care decisions for you in the event you cannot communicate your wishes directly to your health care providers. Where there is doubt or disagreement among individual family members, specifically designating one person to make decisions for you is recommended.

Such documentation can be especially important for same-sex spouses (although such couples are now legally recognized in Massachusetts, they will not be in every state where they might travel). Having a properly executed health care proxy is imperative in such situations.

ADVANCE DIRECTIVE
Many individuals have strong feelings about what they want to happen to them should they ever be in a persistent, irreversible vegetative condition at the end of life. The advance directive (also commonly known as a "Living Will") is frequently used to address this situation. It can request that doctors not resuscitate you, or use extraordinary means to prolong your life, once certain critical irreversible milestones have passed or provide whatever guidance you desire to communicate in these situations. Advance directive can help to alleviate the confusion and even extended, bitter disputes between loved ones and family members.

This document is meant to speak clearly to the family and doctors when the patient becomes incapable of speaking for him or herself. There is an automatic "check" built into the advance directive document; at least two doctors must concur in the diagnosis of the patient, to act according to the directives of the advance directive. This check can ensure that your interests are really being looked after and acted upon, based upon objective diagnoses. Although these are not legally binding in Massachusetts, they provide substantial help to loved ones (and physicians) about what your wishes are in these circumstances.

Using these Documents

Studies show that 70% of Americans who create these very types of health care documents don’t use them! The most common reason is that the documents cannot be found at the actual moment of crisis. In order to address this problem, we have developed a system to store these documents electronically and which allows clients to retrieve their documents at a moment’s notice. Every client for whom we provide these documents receives a wallet sized card that has a personalized access code to an on-line, secure storage facility. Medical professionals can simply dial the number and 24/7 your documents will be sent via fax or pdf to the hospital or medical office where you are being treated. As part of this service, we also include certain emergency information you provide, such as who to call and in what order, whether you have any allergies or serious medical conditions, and the name and contact details of your Primary Care Physician. Clients find this an enormously helpful tool in time of need. It’s part of our way of creating estate plans that work!

If we can assist you with your health-care documents, please contact us at (617) 716-0300 or info@squillace-law.com.