By Steven Latterell, Ice Miller LLP
Parents face many concerns as they get ready to send a child off to college. There are the financial concerns of paying for tuition and room and board. There are academic concerns, including course selection, maintaining good study habits (and avoiding distractions) and the stress of test taking. In addition, parents are acutely concerned for their child’s safety and well-being as the child leaves the “nest,” perhaps for the first time.
The COVID-19 pandemic has brought matters of safety and well-being into sharp focus. Throughout the child’s life at home, parents generally have immediate access to the child’s medical information and can direct the child’s health care without obstruction. When the child is a young adult and is on his or her own in college, or elsewhere, that safety net of parental access and oversight can be lost. One way for the child to retain the parents’ involvement with his or her health care decisions while away from home is to execute health care advance directives that give the parents continued authority to be involved.
In Indiana, these health care advance directives generally include some or all of the following legal documents: (i) appointment of health care representative; (ii) HIPAA authorization; and (iii) living will declaration. Under new legislation, effective July 1, 2021, these documents can be combined into a single health care advance directive currently and are required to be in a single advance directive beginning on January 1, 2023. Here are a few thoughts for parents and their college-aged child to consider in this regard:
- The appointment of health care representative is used to name a representative to make health care decisions for the child if he or she is not able to communicate those wishes to his or her doctor. This directive makes it clear who the child wishes to be the spokesperson(s) for these important decisions and can reduce confusion and delay if a medical emergency arises.
- A HIPAA authorization would allow the parents to have direct access to the child’s protected health information. Even if the child is capable of making a health care decision on his or her own, it could be helpful if parents are provided with direct access to health information so that the child can more easily consult with them about any concerns.
- Finally, a living will declaration does not mean that there will be a rush to "pull the plug." Rather, it is written evidence of the child’s wishes for end-of-life decisions and is designed to provide guidance to the child’s health care representative and attending physician who would confer about health care options and chances of recovery before a decision is made.
After a child works with an attorney to designate a health care representative, it is essential that a copy of that document and his or her other health care advance directives, if any, be sent to the child’s health care providers to maintain with the child’s records.
When a child is heading off to college, or is heading out in the “real world” for the first time, having him or her equipped with health care advance directives is a good first step in helping to ensure that medical decisions can be appropriately addressed for the child going forward.
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