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The advanced health care directive is specifically designed to cover
medical treatment. This document allows you to choose someone to make health
care decisions for you if you are unable to make them yourself. It also allows
you to express your preferences concerning medical decisions such as life
sustaining treatments, organ donations, burial directives, and other
healthcare/death arrangements.
"Life-sustaining treatment" means the use of available medical machinery
and techniques such as heart-lung machines, ventilators, and other medical
equipment that will sustain and possibly extend your life, but which will not by
themselves cure your condition. |
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By expressing such preferences in a written
legal document, you are ensuring that your
desires are made known. This shields your
loved ones from having to make tough
decisions about your health, as well as the
inevitable guilt that comes along with
making the toughest choice. Once you have
an advanced health health care directive, you
should keep it among your important papers.
Your primary physician and your HMO should
also keep a copy of this document on record.
Failure to create such directives have
led to long, and highly publicized court
battles. While communication is key,
families often have a hard time letting go.
The best method to ensure your wishes are
respected, is to write them in a legal
document.
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Medical Information Releases:
| Due to recent changes in the law,
specifically the Health Insurance
Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA),
proper estate plans should include a medical
information release. Such releases allow
your designated agents to have access to the
information they need to make proper
decisions about your health. |
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