Does your health care power of attorney need updating?

            Probably not.

            You should take a look at it occasionally to make sure what you wrote still applies and expresses your wishes. If not, it’s easy to do a new one. And if you haven’t put your health care wishes in writing, it’s a good idea. Find out more.

            But don’t let yourself be panicked into paying precious dollars for something you don’t need!

            Have you ever purchased a living trust from an estate planning company? We’ve heard and seen letters sent recently to some of their former clients (“customers” might be a better term) warning that a new federal law – the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) – may affect instructions in their advance health care directives.

            (That’s the term under California law for a document in which you can name someone to make health care decisions for you in case you are unable to do so, and also make statements as to your preferences about certain medical treatments and other things. To find out more about them, click here.)

            Even if you didn’t pay for such a directive as part of a fancy trust, you may see some similar warnings repeated innocently and with the best of intentions in various newsletters for seniors. Please read on before you act.

            Why is this happening? Among other things, HIPAA guarantees some important privacy rights for your medical records. If you’ve been to a doctor lately, you’ve probably been handed several pages of legalese and asked to sign something saying you’ve read it. That’s because of HIPAA. We doubt many people are really reading all that fine print, but still, it’s a good thing if it helps remind health care providers that the information they have about us is private.

            One section of the Senior Legal Hotline’s (and many others’) advance health care directive form says that the person you appoint to make decisions for you if necessary can have access to your medical records. It is apparently this provision that some people think needs to be changed to be sure that HIPAA won’t keep your records too private.

            This is not true. For one thing, HIPAA doesn’t make your records any more private than California law already did. Moreover, if your properly signed and witnessed document grants the person you choose access to your records, that overcomes any general privacy protections in either state or federal law.

            So why are some people repeating this wrong information? Well, the same folks who charge an arm and a leg for living trusts (often to people who really have no use for them) are always looking for new ways to get some more of your money. For years, we’ve heard of folks getting talked into paying hundreds of dollars to “update” their perfectly good trusts due to supposed “new laws.” This is just another such opportunity. And once the rumors start, other, more sincere people concerned with seniors’ welfare start repeating them – if they say it, it must be true, right?

            Still confused about this or other sales pitches for trusts, annuities, insurance policies, “Medi-Cal planning” or whatever? Call or e-mail the Senior Legal Hotline for free, expert advice that is unbiased – because we don’t sell anything.