On a cold, rainy Sunday afternoon in early October, Jane despairs at the paperwork piles. Last year, a car crash took Mike, cruelly ending their ten-year marriage. Each year, Mike did the taxes while house bills fell to Jane. Now, it’s all on her. How can she do this alone? A young widow with two young children. Even after a year she cannot concentrate. “Widow’s brain” a friend calls it. A constant fog interrupted by family demands.

Mike and Jane meant to get organized, get their “ducks in a row.” But kids! Jobs! Church! Activities! She gave up her job after the second child. Daycare was so expensive and no family nearby. Jane’s new part-time job barely covers her expenses. What to do now?

Partial Plan Means Total Frustration

Jane could get the checking and savings because they were joint on those accounts. But her name was never put on that cottage Mike inherited. Mike’s life insurance from work is up in the air. They say the “paperwork” is wrong. Health insurance? That “COBRA” policy costs way too much! If Jane gets sick, who takes the kids?

First Things First

Jane and the kids need checkups. Physical and mental! Available without charge in most Michigan counties.

Plan Jane Plan

Jane needs expert help. Thorough review of family assets. Handle Mike’s probate estate. Get the insurance money. Plan for the future. Who gets the kids if she dies? Who will pay the bills? Who makes medical decisions? How can an estate plan that make life for her family easier and safer?

Carrier Law Can Help

A will and trust will direct who gets the kids and the money. No expensive and time-consuming Probate. Financial and health care powers of attorney will allow a loved one to manage her affairs.

Take the First Step!

Jane met experienced, competent counsel who helped her cut through the fog. Take effective action. Provide for herself and her children. As Jane now says, “It’s not about documents, it’s about peace of mind!”

By Claire Clary, Carrier Law Attorney, Widowed Persons Service – Board Member

The post Thoughts for the Newly Widowed appeared first on Carrier Law.

A health care crisis can arise in an instant – even for the healthiest person – so every estate plan should have a health care component. This provides the powers and instructions to your loved ones and doctors to carry out your wishes should you be unable to express them.  The proper health care documents should be drafted by an experienced Estate Planning law firm, such as Carrier Law.

There are several forms to consider:

1. HCPOA – The Health Care Power of Attorney document is a critical document for all adults – probably the most important document on this list. When properly drafted, it allows a patient advocate to make health care decisions when the patient is not competent. It can allow the patient advocate to sign a POST – Physician Orders for Scope of Treatment. It can also cover HIPAA situations. Caution: When being admitted to the Hospital or other facility, you are often asked to present or sign a Health Care Power of Attorney (HCPOA). If you already have such a signed HCPOA, bring it with you – especially one drafted by Carrier Law. Our Health Care Power of Attorney document is much broader than most, and signing a new one could revoke it. (Most HCPOAs have language stating that upon signing the document you revoke all prior HCPOAs.)
2. HIPAA Authorization – (Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act) This authorization is used to allow the personal representative to obtain medical records, billing records and communicate with health care professionals.  It is not used to make medical decisions. It can be used even if the patient is competent.
3. Care Directive – Provides instructions to others as to what the patient’s wishes are for certain care that might be provided. Each care directive is unique in what the instructions provide. It may cover items such as: Living Will issues, life-sustaining treatment, artificial nutrition and hydration, and comfort care. It could include organ donation wishes, funeral and burial instructions, and instructions regarding an autopsy. These are all very important wishes for many people. Carrier Law recently updated their Care Directive instructions to be more comprehensive. If you previously filled out a Care Directive with Carrier Law and would like to update it, you can download a copy of the new version here.
4. POST (Michigan Physician Orders for Scope of Treatment) – This document is put into place when the patient has less than one year to live. The POST form must be signed by the patient’s physician, the PA, or nurse practitioner. It is a standard State of Michigan form that details the patient’s end-of-life care wishes. It covers: resuscitation, ventilation, defibrillation, and comfort measures. The recommended time to complete this document is when the patient is being discharged from a hospital and is going home, to a nursing home, or other location outside of a hospital.
5. Funeral Representative Designation – A funeral representative is a person designated in a legal document as having authority to make decisions concerning the handling, disposition, or disinterment of a decedent’s body. The funeral representative is authorized by statute to make decisions regarding cremation and has the right to retrieve from the funeral home and possess cremated remains of the decedent immediately after cremation.
6. Guardianship – A Guardianship (which is set up through Probate Court) can often be avoided with the proper legal health care documents in place before a crisis arises. A Guardianship is often a more expensive and time-consuming proposition, compared with the properly drafted health care documents.

How do these health care documents compare, and do I need all of them? That depends on your life stage and overall health.
Click below for a visual comparison of each document.

The post Health Care documents: what do you need? appeared first on Carrier Law.

Carrier Law has added to its Estate Planning and Elder Law arsenal of tools a HIPAA authorization in accordance to the Health Insurance and Accountability Act’s provisions.

What is HIPAA?

HIPAA is an abbreviation for “Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act”. In 1996, Congress enacted HIPAA to protect individually identifiable health care information from being disclosed to an unauthorized individual. In 2002, the Department of Health and Human Services (DHSS) finalized standards for the electronic exchange, privacy and security of health information.

HIPAA requires any health care entity, including a physician’s office, a hospital or other health care facility, or an insurer, that deals with personal health information to follow strict rules about how to handle protected information. For example, Health and Human Services allows physicians and insurance companies to exchange individually identifiable health information to pay a health claim but would not allow them to release it publicly.

HIPAA also limits the ability of a new employer health plan to exclude coverage for pre-existing conditions. This means a person who has health insurance coverage can change jobs — and therefore health plans — without worrying that a condition that they already have, such as diabetes or asthma, would not be covered under the new health plan.

Some Pros and Cons of HIPAA

Pros

HIPAA benefits for the patient:

• Grants the patient the legal right to see, copy, and correct their personal medical information.
• Prevents employers from accessing and using personal health information to make employment decisions.
• Enables patients with pre-existing conditions to change jobs without worrying that their conditions would not be covered under a new employer’s health plan.

Cons

HIPAA’s effects have not all been positive.

• In a time of a medical crisis, a patient may be incapacitated and not able sign a HIPAA authorization granting someone access to needed medical information. Therefore, the HIPAA authorization must be signed and in place before the medical crisis arises.
• The American Medical Association claims that the HIPAA regulations are a tremendous burden on the doctors and healthcare providers to comply with the complicated rules.
• HIPAA has spawned a mini-industry of companies and consultants who help medical professionals comply with the law’s lengthy provisions. All adding to the cost of healthcare.
• Some professionals who deal with medical paperwork have become overcautious about releasing protected information. For example, some physician’s offices now refuse to mail test results, requiring patients to pick them up in person. Some hospitals require physicians to submit written requests on their own letterhead for information on a patient’s condition, when the law allows this information to be provided by phone.

Carrier Law Cares

To make sure you are prepared in a time of medical crisis to allow authorized individuals access to your health care information, Carrier Law will provide, upon request, free of charge to all Carrier Law’s past and current clients a HIPAA authorization. Call our office for details.

To download our HIPAA form, click here.

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