Even if you do not discuss these issues with your agent, your agent will still have the power to make medical decisions for you if you are unable to do so yourself. As opposed to living wills, health care proxy forms do not require you to specify what treatments you would wish to undergo in particular circumstances. Rather, they permit you to appoint an agent who is empowered to make virtually any health care decision for you should you lose decision-making capacity. In addition, while living wills generally cover only decisions about life-sustaining treatments in circumstances where an incapacitated individual has a terminal illness or is in an irreversible coma, health care agents may make medical decisions in all circumstances in which an individual becomes incapacitated. In many ways, therefore, the appointment of a health care agent allows for greater flexibility than does the writing of a living will.
Many people associate health care proxy forms and living wills with the elderly or very ill.
However, some of the most prominent cases that illustrate the need for these documents involved young adults in tragic accidents who became incapacitated and required decisions to be made for them about life-sustaining treatments. Because the occurrence of serious injuries or sudden changes in health status cannot be predicted with any certainty, it is a good idea for you to fill out one or both of these documents as soon as you are able no matter what your age or health status. Some state departments of health and nonprofit organizations such as Choice in Dying can provide you with detailed, state-specific information about health care proxies and living wills. Hospitals and other medical providers that receive federal funds are required by federal law to provide you, upon your admission as a patient, with information about your rights under state law to create advance directives such as living wills and health care proxies. After you have written a living will or have filled out a health care proxy form you should let your family and close friends know about its existence and location, so that they can readily access the document should the need arise.