Race Season : Health Care Decisions
Tedi has sent me some info she wanted to share with you all. I agree with her totally, I’ve recently been dealing with some of this with my 91 year old grandmother who fell and broke her hip, and having these forms set up in advance made it so much easier for me to take care of things for her.
With Daytona around the corner, I’ve been thinking a lot about Medical Durable Power of Attorney, Medical Proxy, and The Five Wishes (valid in 40 states). I strongly advise looking into these forms prior to the first race of the season. The HIPAA Privacy Rule, which protects the privacy of individually identifiable health information, will prevent your loved ones from gaining valuable information regarding your health status in the case of unfortunate events. The Medical Durable Power of Attorney is free and available online. The Five Wishes form is $5.00 and also available online. The Medical Proxy form is required to filled out after the fact, needing the signature of the patient’s attending physician. For the sake of your family and friends and your own health care, please take a moment and fill out a few forms.
Here are some links to forms and more information.
- More info on the Five Wishes
- Colorado Power of Attorney forms from Bradford Publishing. I had these recommended to me by our prepaid legal service.
- An example Colorado Living Will and Medical Durable Power of Attorney form
- Some more general info from the State of Colorado, targeted for Seniors but applicable to everyone.
