The Lawyers of St. George » Health Care http://www.sglawblog.com Life and Law in Southern Utah Wed, 21 Jul 2010 23:14:44 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.8.4 en hourly 1 New Utah Medical Directive (Previously Called a Living Will) http://www.sglawblog.com/2009/12/09/new-utah-medical-directive-previously-called-a-living-will/ http://www.sglawblog.com/2009/12/09/new-utah-medical-directive-previously-called-a-living-will/#comments Wed, 09 Dec 2009 15:13:25 +0000 Russ Mitchell http://www.sglawblog.com/?p=796 You are probably familiar with the phrase “living will” as referring to a document setting out the nature of medical care you would like to receive if you become sick or injured to the extent you are unable to provide such direction. When you cannot speak for yourself, health care providers will work to preserve life. This may include administering resuscitation or using respirators, feeding tubes, IVs, pain medication, antibiotics, etc. A health care provider may do this even if you are only being kept alive by the use of medical equipment, perhaps no longer recognizing family or being able to communicate.

You may prefer not to be kept alive under such conditions. The living will document was designed to enable you to give direction to health care providers to discontinue use of medical equipment or other care, including a “do-not-resuscitate” order, when certain conditions are met. In addition, you may appoint an agent to make health care-related decisions for you when you cannot make decisions for yourself (sometimes called a health care power of attorney). Such an agent can, on your behalf if you are incapacitated, make decisions about medical care, consult with physicians about prognosis and diagnosis, and make other decisions about discharge from the hospital or admittance into a long-term care facility.

Over the years, some health care providers have, on occasion, challenged the right of an agent to act on a person’s behalf in directing medical care. Because of the cost, the agent would not fight the provider. Therefore, the person’s health care directive would be ignored. The Utah legislature determined that this should not be so, and it passed laws that  require health providers to abide by the directive of a person if that person uses a particular form developed by the legislature. This form, called a “medical directive,” requires health care providers to pay the attorney’s fees and costs of the agent who fights to enforce the medical directive. This is a strong incentive for health care providers to abide by the terms and conditions of the medical directive.

The key part of a medical directive is to set forth your desire that you do not want to prolong life in certain situations where you are being kept alive by medical equipment. The medical directive has several options that allow you to be quite specific about when you want medical treatment to be withheld. However, no matter what is stated in the medical directive, it is only effective when you are unable to express yourself competently. As long as you are able to give direction to health care providers, whatever you want to have done takes control over the medical directive.

This article is not intended to be legal advice. Receipt of this information does not create an attorney-client relationship.

]]> http://www.sglawblog.com/2009/12/09/new-utah-medical-directive-previously-called-a-living-will/feed/ 0 A “Back of the Napkin” Explanation of Healthcare Legislation http://www.sglawblog.com/2009/09/17/a-%e2%80%9cback-of-the-napkin%e2%80%9d-explanation-of-healthcare-legislation/ http://www.sglawblog.com/2009/09/17/a-%e2%80%9cback-of-the-napkin%e2%80%9d-explanation-of-healthcare-legislation/#comments Thu, 17 Sep 2009 19:30:17 +0000 Marianne Sorensen http://www.sglawblog.com/2009/09/17/a-%e2%80%9cback-of-the-napkin%e2%80%9d-explanation-of-healthcare-legislation/ For an entertaining and informative overview of the health care debate, see this presentation by Dan Roam posted at http://www.slideshare.net/danroam/healthcare-napkins-all?src=embed.

]]> http://www.sglawblog.com/2009/09/17/a-%e2%80%9cback-of-the-napkin%e2%80%9d-explanation-of-healthcare-legislation/feed/ 0 Update – “America’s Healthy Future Act of 2009” http://www.sglawblog.com/2009/09/17/update-%e2%80%93-%e2%80%9camerica%e2%80%99s-healthy-future-act-of-2009%e2%80%9d/ http://www.sglawblog.com/2009/09/17/update-%e2%80%93-%e2%80%9camerica%e2%80%99s-healthy-future-act-of-2009%e2%80%9d/#comments Thu, 17 Sep 2009 18:47:32 +0000 Tim Anderson http://www.sglawblog.com/2009/09/17/update-%e2%80%93-%e2%80%9camerica%e2%80%99s-healthy-future-act-of-2009%e2%80%9d/ This week, Senate Finance Chairman Max Baucus released the Chairman’s Mark of the “America’s Healthy Future Act of 2009.”  This is the latest health care reform proposal.  It is 223 pages, but is expected to be much longer after the mark up process is completed. 

Highlights of Healthy Future Act

The Act would:

  • Require all Americans to purchase health care insurance or pay an adjustable fine (the maximum would be $1,500/taxpayer or $3,800/family)
  • Create an internet insurance exchange
  • Give consumers the choice of non‐profit, consumer owned and oriented plans (co-operatives)
  • Ban insurance companies from denying care due to pre‐existing conditions
  • Provide tax credits for small businesses and low-income individuals
  • Not provide insurance for illegal immigrants

For the text of the Chairman’s Mark, go to: http://finance.senate.gov/sitepages/leg/LEG%202009/091609%20Americas_Healthy_Future_Act.pdf.

Overview

  • The Congressional Budget Office estimates the Chairman’s Mark would cost $856 billion over ten years.
  • The Senate Finance Committee is tentatively scheduled to start marking up the bill on Tuesday, September 22.
  • There appears to be nothing in the bill that would mandate health insurance to be provided to independent contractors.
  • Unlike bills previously passed by the House Ways & Means, Energy & Commerce, and Education & Labor Committees as well as the Senate Health Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, there is no government-run health care program (public option) provision in the Senate Finance Committee’s bill.

Forecast

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid has announced that Senate Democrats are going to hold a special caucus to discuss the Finance Committee’s bill.  Senator Reid said that Democrats are prepared to use budget reconciliation as a last resort.  (Reconciliation is a legislative process of the Senate to allow a contentious budget bill to be considered without being subject to filibuster.) Already, some Democrats said they would not vote for the bill in its current form because it lacks a public option.

Senator Jay Rockefeller from West Virginia has stated his opposition of the bill by saying it features a “big, big tax” on middle class workers (including West Virginia coal miners).

There are currently no Republicans on the Senate Finance Committee who will vote for the bill in its current form.  Olympia Snowe was one of the last Senate Republicans that Democrats hoped might back the bill, but due to concerns about how the plan would be paid for, she announced she cannot support it at this time.

For the Senate Finance Committee bill to move forward, it will have to be voted out of the Committee and then to full Senate floor vote.  After this is accomplished, the bill would then most likely proceed to a joint conference committee of the House and the Senate to reconcile the differences between the bill and those proposals passed by the three House Committees.

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