What Is Medical Power of Attorney?

By: Grace Richel Tijam - @inquirerdotnet

Inquirer Los Angeles / 10:18 AM August 31, 2022

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We can never predict when an unexpected event, such as a sickness or accident, might happen. By appointing someone you trust to handle crucial decisions on your behalf, you may give yourself and your family members peace of mind if you cannot function. That is why you should create a Medical Power of Attorney in advance.

You (the principal) may delegate legal authority and the capacity to make significant healthcare decisions to an agent or attorney-in-fact through a legal document known as medical power of attorney (MPOA).

These choices might relate to several aspects of medical treatments, healthcare decisions, surgery, end-of-life care, and many others. Your healthcare agent or proxy is the person you designate in your Power of Attorney to make these choices.

Medical Power of Attorney Advantages

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It is wise to draft a medical POA in advance for various reasons. The main factors you might want to think about are as follows:

Peace of Mind

Your loved ones or family members may need to step in and make decisions for you if you ever get too severely ill or disabled to do so. If you don’t have a medical POA, this usually necessitates going to court, which may be expensive and time-consuming. Additionally, your loved ones might make assumptions about the type of care you prefer.

This scenario adds stress to an already difficult situation. You may give yourself and your loved one peace of mind by designating a dependable individual to serve as your healthcare agent before the time when you need one.

Preparation for a Medical Procedure

Since you can’t decide while under anesthesia if you’re considering surgery, you might wish to choose a healthcare agent to handle all medical decision-making on your behalf. After your recovery, if you’d like, you can rescind a power of attorney.

Addressing Concerns Following a Degenerative Disease Diagnoses

You will eventually be unable to comprehend or agree to healthcare decisions if you have Alzheimer’s, cancer, ALS, or Huntington’s disease. After receiving a diagnosis, while you’re still in good health and able to express your healthcare preferences, you might choose to draft a medical power of attorney.

Things to Consider When Creating Your Medical Power Of Attorney

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As soon as you become disabled, a durable medical POA goes into effect. This MPOA may apply to you if you:

Were sedated with a general anesthetic
Had a condition that rendered you mute, such as a stroke
Had an accident that caused you to be unconscious or in a coma
experiencing dementia due to Alzheimer’s or other types of dementia affects your judgment.

Making a Medical Power of Attorney is crucial for your health care. Here are the essential factors to check when creating this legal form:

Make the Medical Power of Attorney Durable

Most individuals decide to make a medical POA durable when they write one. If you have a durable medical POA, your agent can continue to act on your behalf even if you become disabled and cannot express your preferences. If you cannot speak for yourself, your agent would be empowered to make medical choices on your behalf. It’s advisable to be precise when drafting your instrument because many courts presume that a medical POA is durable by default.

Medical POAs may also be known as:

Power of attorney for healthcare
Advance directive
Advance healthcare directive
A medical power of attorney directive

Your Attorney-in-Fact

It’s crucial to consider who you want to name as your agent or attorney-in-fact in your medical power of attorney. Although the phrase “attorney-in-fact” contains the word “attorney,” an attorney is not necessary for this individual to serve in this capacity. The majority of people name a family member or close family acquaintance as their actual attorney.

To make the same medical decisions you would if you weren’t disabled, you should choose a representative you can rely on. Even though the holder of a power of attorney for medical choices is obligated to obey whatever healthcare directives you have communicated to them, you still put a lot of faith in them. Choose a person who won’t make a decision afterward.

The Medical Treatment you Wish to Have in an Emergency.

In the case of a medical emergency or problem, there may be specific measures you would like others to carry out on your behalf. If you desire surgery or other life-extending procedures, you can specify your choices for housing and medical care. If you have a memory-related condition, you should determine your intentions in your medical power of attorney if you want to be treated at a particular place or institution, remain at home, or have another preferred result. Additionally, your paper has to specify any approaches, treatments, alternatives, or procedures you want to consider.

The Medical Decisions in the Face of Crisis

You may customize whatever choices you want your agent or representative to make for you in your medical power of attorney. The details are up to you, and you can specify all sorts of decisions relating to your health and healthcare alternatives.

You might want to restrict your representative’s authority in particular situations, such as when deciding whether to use exceptional measures if there is no possibility of recovery. In other cases, you can set up your medical power of attorney so that a representative can make all decisions on your behalf.

Your designated healthcare agent may intervene if you cannot make decisions for yourself and make decisions based on your prior preferences and requests. While this contract may be entirely personalized, popular possibilities include choices regarding permission for medical care, withholding or withdrawing from treatment, particular therapies you want or don’t want, mental care, hospitalization, and nursing home care alternatives.

The Health Care You Want

Be as specific as you can in this legal document since it will significantly influence your life and future, and you want your preferences to be recognized and carried out.

Making an informed choice about your requirements might be facilitated by learning more about the medical power of attorney procedure and how it functions. Additionally, you’ll be able to write a paper with the degree of specificity required to express your wants, worries, and wishes at the crucial moment.

Legal Power of your Health Care Agent

Legally, your healthcare representative must operate in your best interests. You decide how much control they should have over your treatment. You might draft your POA to provide your healthcare agent complete discretion over your treatment. Alternatively, you can set time limits and restrictions on your agent’s authority.

You can rely upon your healthcare agent’s judgment if you’d like:

What medical care do you receive: surgery, prescription drugs, and at-home care
The locations where you obtain medical attention
The physicians and other healthcare professionals who manage your care
Your residence, any nursing homes, assisted living facilities, or residential long-term care
Who looks after your basic requirements, like eating and taking a shower?

Your healthcare agent will probably collaborate with a different financial power of attorney you’ve designated to manage your funds to ensure that you can pay for the recommended medical treatment.

5 Steps On How to Create Your Medical Power of Attorney

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In the unlikely event that someone cannot make choices about their health, medical power of attorney enables someone to take care of those matters. If the principal does not expressly state that they would prefer it as an option in the agreement, the representative is not permitted to make any “end-of-life” decisions.

The representative does not influence the treatment of the principal if they are consciously capable of thinking for themselves. To help you in drafting your own Medical Power of Attorney, here’s the step-by-step guide:

Step # 1: Choose your Health Care Agent

Choose the person you want to represent in healthcare. You should pick a person whose best interests are at heart since your agent will have much power. It might be wise to contact this person to determine whether they are willing to act as your agent.

The chosen agent will be in charge of carrying out your decisions in light of your medical state. They will be legally authorized to choose your licensed physician, primary care physician, or the medical staff caring for them. Also, they will have the advance directive from you about your medical treatments and decisions.

Moreover, the agent will also be in charge of your health care and financial decisions. It would help if you seek a partner you can rely on who is aware of your primary medical history, including any cardiac issues, medications, allergies, etc.

If the principal agent cannot perform their tasks, you will choose a successor (2nd) agent. Generally, there cannot be co-agent power. A single individual must make decisions. In addition, you can set up compensation and reimbursement for the selected agent’s travel, hotel, and meal expenses.

Step # 2: Determine the Extent of your Agent’s Decisions on your Health Care

Select the medical decisions that you want your agent to be allowed to make. Expressly state the financial power and health care power you like to vest on your agent. It is entirely up to you what instructions you provide your agent or the medical powers you give. You can empower your agent to make every kind of decision that arises.

Also, you can restrict them to only making particular kinds of decisions. If you are more clear about what your agent can and cannot do, the medical team will better grasp your wishes for your health. One example of an express stipulation is that if there is little to no hope of a full recovery, ask the agent to refuse life support.

You should state the agent’s authority in the attorney form, including:

Surgical Procedures
Nursing Home Care/Treatment
Hospitalization
A medical diagnosis
Psychological Care
Care at Home
Donation of organs
Death-related decisions

Step # 3: Accomplish the Legal Document (MPOA)

Obtain a medical power of attorney form. Most states offer free blank POA forms. However, it’s not always straightforward to edit or incorporate specific preferences such as health care matters.

You must fill out the form and sign it. The witnesses present should follow local legal requirements. You must notarize your POA paperwork in the majority of states. Some states might call for additional witnesses or your agent’s signature. You can also ask a law firm to assist you in creating a medical power of attorney if you have the financial power to do so.

Step # 4: Living Will Attachment

It is important to attach a living will to any medical power of attorney. A living will specify a person’s preferences for end-of-life care and allow someone to speak for them. For instance, if someone were to become debilitated and there was no possibility of a cure, they may choose to refuse life-supporting measures to keep them alive.

Additionally, it allows choosing organ donation and other post-death choices. You may also make a living will that includes a healthcare power of attorney using free internet software.

Step # 5: Safe keep the Medical Power of Attorney

Your agent and other interested parties, such as your doctor’s office, should receive a copy of your medical POA form. Before they may decide on your healthcare, your agent must present the paperwork as evidence of their authority.

Save your medical POA form in a secure location with your other estate planning paperwork. This POA might be kept in a safe deposit box, a fireproof safe at home, or in the office of a reputable lawyer. Any time your circumstances change or your financial power, update your medical POA.

How to Revoke a MPOA?

As long as you’re deemed mentally competent, you have the right to withdraw or terminate your medical POA whenever you choose. You can fill out revocation of power of attorney form, have a notary public witness it, and use it to cancel your medical POA.

According to this agreement, you no longer want your designated agent to serve as your medical POA. You can also identify a new healthcare agent in a new medical POA document, or you can modify the duties of your present agent.

It would help if you informed your original healthcare agent in writing that you are canceling their power of attorney once you have created one of these forms. To tell them of the revocation, you should also contact other parties with your POA on file, such as your doctor’s office.