What is a 'Health Care Proxy'?

The person you choose as your health care agent will be called upon to make decisions about your medical care only if your health care provider determines that you are unable to make or communicate such choices for yourself - if, for example, you were unconscious. Your agent is required to make decisions that are consistent with your religious or moral beliefs, including any instructions you may have put in a living will. If your wishes are not clear, or if they fail to address the particular circumstance, your agent may exercise independent judgment about your medical treatment, taking into account your best interests. If you wish, you may write your health care proxy to put limits on your agent's authority, or to list your preferences about specific kinds of treatment.

Which Should You Choose?

One advantage of the health car proxy is that your agent can make a decision based on the specific situation at the moment, whether or not you anticipated that situation when you signed the health care proxy. Even in the most carefully drawn living will, it is not possible to anticipate all the conditions you might face and all the choices that might be available. Another advantage of the health car proxy is that your health care provider must honor the decisions of your agent, while the instructions contained in a living will are not legally binding.

However, the health care agent has a monumentally important responsibility: to make medical decisions for you if you are unable to do so. Such decisions could include whether to sustain your life support. For this reason, you should think very carefully about whom to choose as your health care agent, and should discuss your feelings about your medical preferences with this person before a problem arises. If you do not trust another person to make medical decisions on your behalf, a health care proxy may not be for you.

Keep in mind that the information given here is very general. There are specific requirements and facts about both living wills and health care proxies that should be considered before choosing either one. A lawyer can discuss these considerations with you, and help you decide whether you need a living will, health care proxy, or combination of both. A lawyer can then help you write your document to ensure that it meets your legal and medical needs.