Medical Power Of Attorney Recommended For All High School Seniors

By Debbie J. Cunningham

The to do list can get quite lengthy as parents begin to prepare their high school seniors for graduation and to leave for college. One item that should be near the top is getting a medical power of attorney. This is necessary because your child is now or likely soon will be eighteen and a legal adult. This newly acquired adult status is often overlooked and comes with many new rights and responsibilities. For example, your child is now entitled to medical privacy as a result of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA). HIPAA prevents medical providers from giving medical information to anyone without the consent of their patient.

As a result, if your child is injured you may be unable to get information about their current condition. Furthermore, with today's complex family structures the person who should be making decisions can be hard to identify. A medical power of attorney designates who should be making decisions in case the named individual is unable too. As a result, a medical power of attorney will solve both the problem of access to information and who should make decisions.

The college bound student can provide a copy of this document to the healthcare department of the college they will be attending. This will give the school clear direction as to who should have access to medical information and who should make decisions if the student is unable to.

Debbie J. Cunningham practices law in the Irving Las Colinas area. She provides a variety of legal services for individuals and small business owners.