KB Times
  Katten & Benson, Your Elder Care Law Specialists
April 2010 - Vol 3,  Issue 4
In This Issue
Did You Know?
K & B Happenings
National Healthcare Decisions Day
Making Health Care Decisions
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Did You Know?
If you do not have advance directives, state law designates who can make health care decisions for you:
  1. The patient's spouse
  2. An adult child of the patient who has the waiver and consent of all other qualified adult children of the patient to act as the sole decision-maker
  3. A majority of the patient's reasonably available adult children
  4. The patient's parents
  5. The individual clearly identified to act for the patient by the patient before the patient became incapacitated, the patient's nearest living relative, or a member of the clergy.
                    
                    Texas Health and Safety Code Chapter 313
K & B Happenings
Katten & Benson will be providing snacks at the weekly dance at the Arlington Senior Center on April 9. For more information, call 817-277-8091.
snacks

Monica and Kim will be speaking at Seniors and Their Caregivers,
presented by the League of Women Voters of Arlington, TX.
When: April 20, 2010
           7:00pm-9:30pm
Where: Westminster Presbyterian Church
1330 S. Fielder Road
Arlington, TX 76013   
Free to the public.        
               
Administrative Assistant's Day


We have the best administrative staff anywhere!



Brenda Evans, Office Manager and Paralegal
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Cordy Davila, Legal Assistant
Social Work Month logo



 
Janice Lewis, Medicaid Specialist
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Join National Healthcare Decisions Day...Because Your Decisions Matter
by Nathan A. Kottkamp, Chair, National Healthcare Decisions Day
KB LogoPlease help us make history, again.  April 16, 2010, will be the third annual National Healthcare Decisions Day.  The inaugural event, which was formally recognized by Congress and numerous state and local governments, included participation by 76 of the most prominent national healthcare, religious, and legal associations and organizations.  By the second year, well over 700 local and state organizations throughout the country also participated.  At every level, the goal of this nationwide initiative is to ensure that all adults with decision-making capacity in America have both the information and the opportunity to communicate and document their future healthcare decisions.  The first years' results were impressive-over 750,000 people obtained resources to make their healthcare decisions known-but there remain millions of Americans to go.  

While making healthcare decisions is often difficult in the best of circumstances, making decisions for others is even more complicated. Each of us has the ability to guide our healthcare providers and our loved ones about what we want. Advance directives give you the ability to document the types of healthcare you do and do not want, and to name an "agent" to speak for you if you cannot speak for yourself. As Terri Schiavo's situation vividly revealed, having an advance directive can be valuable for all adults, regardless of current age or health status.

With the Patient Self-Determination Act of 1990, Congress affirmed the right of every citizen to set forth his or her future healthcare wishes in writing with an "advance directive." Yet various estimates suggest that only about 25% of all Americans have done so.  Because advance directives can be created without a lawyer, for free, and relatively easily, this figure is astonishingly low.  In recognition of this, National Healthcare Decisions Day strives to provide much-needed information to the public, reduce the number of tragedies that occur when a person's wishes are unknown, and improve the ability of healthcare facilities and providers to offer informed and thoughtful guidance about advance healthcare planning to their patients.

Please visit  www.nationalhealthcaredecisionsday.org for a variety of free information (including free advance directives forms for every state) and tools to assist with thoughtful reflection on healthcare choices and ideas on how to get involved. Additionally, watch for events in your community honoring National Healthcare Decisions Day.  Finally, please share this information with your loved ones and colleagues.

With healthcare, "your decisions matter," however, others need to know your wishes to honor them. There are no wrong answers when thinking about healthcare choices and completing an advance directive. Please use April 16, 2010, to decide, discuss, and document your wishes, whatever they may be.
Making Health Care Decisions
We like to think that we will always be able to make our own health care decisions, but the reality is that for many of us there may come a time when we are not able to make health care choices. We might have an adverse reaction to medication, we might be in a coma due to an accident, or we might develop dementia, and these events can happen to us at any time in our lives. That's why it's important to not only have advance directives in place, but we need to talk to our friends and families about what we do and do not want.

Medical Power of Attorney
This document allows you to designate an agent to make medical and health care decisions when you cannot. This type of power or attorney is "springing", which means it springs into action when you cannot make medical decisions, and springs out of action when you can resume making medical decisions.

An example of this springing power might be if you are in the hospital after surgery and having a bad reaction to pain medication. You might be lethargic, confused, and otherwise unable to understand the risks and benefits of a proposed treatment. In this situation it would be acceptable, if your doctor documents that you can't make treatment decisions, for your agent to make a decision. If the doctor stops or changes the pain medication and your thinking ability improves, then you are again able to make decisions.

If you are an agent, it is important to remember that being named an agent is not in itself enough for you to make decisions. The person you are representing has to be unable to make decisions, and this needs to be documented  by a physician.

The Directive to Physicians and Family or Surrogates
Also known as the Living Will, this document allows you to let others know your wishes for end of life. This document only goes into effect if your physician determines that you have a terminal or irreversible condition, with less than six months to live, even if all efforts are made to prolong life. This document allows you tell others what your wishes are at the very end of life.
EMT
Out of Hospital DNR (Do Not Resuscitate)
When you have a terminal or irreversible condition, you may make the decision that if your heart or breathing stops, you would not want any heroic measures taken to prolong life, such as CPR. But if you are at home and an ambulance is called, they are obligated to perform CPR unless you have an Out of Hospital DNR. This is the only directive that requires a doctor's signature, and it should not be confused with a DNR that you might have in the hospital.
Don't forget that we are always here and ready to help with your long term care planning needs.
 
Sincerely,
 
Kim Olmedo, LCSW, CCSM, CSW-G
Elder Care Coordinator
Katten & Benson