Your Health Care Agent makes medical treatment decisions for you if you're too sick or injured to make or communicate them yourself, or if a court ever declares you to be incompetent. Your Health Care Agent also talks with your doctors and nurses and makes sure your choices are taken into consideration during the decision-making process. For this reason, it's important for you to discuss your ideas about quality of life with your Health Care Agent. Let your Health Care Agent know what you think makes life worth living and how much medical intervention is acceptable to you.
Before you choose your Health Care Agent, it's a good idea to make sure the person agrees to take on the responsibility. If you change your mind later, MyDirectives lets you remove this person and update your Advance Care Plan with a new Health Care Agent at any time. When you make a change, be sure to let everyone know, so there's no misunderstanding later.
Even if you have a Health Care Agent, you still have complete control over all of your medical decisions unless, and until, doctors decide that you've lost your ability to make and communicate medical decisions for yourself, or a court declares you to be incompetent.
Your Health Care Agent has no power over decisions that aren't related to healthcare, such as finances, work-related issues, funeral matters, or anything that might be covered in your will. Your Health Care Agent also can't make decisions that go against your instructions or discussions. In most countries and states, your Health Care Agent can't commit you to a mental health facility, or agree to psychosurgery, abortion, electroconvulsive therapy, or to anything against the law.
You can choose to limit your agent's authority to a specific period of time (days, weeks, or months) and to specific medical treatments. MyDirectives walks you through those options and lets you come back later to anything you don't understand or want to think about or discuss with your doctor.