Indiana’s New Advance Directive for Health Care: What You Need to Know
Indiana’s legislature authorized the use of a new form, the Advance Directive for Health Care (“ADHC”), on July 1, 2021. This article will highlight five important things you should know about using the ADHC form when planning your estate or talking with your loved ones.
1. Your “old” documents are still valid. If you already have a validly executed Appointment of Health Care Representative, Living Will, and/or HIPAA release, those documents remain valid. However, after December 31, 2022, you will not be able to re-execute one of those documents. So, if you need to make a change to the particulars of those documents (such as naming a new health care representative) you must do so using the new ADHC form beginning January 1, 2023.
2. There is no state-mandated ADHC “form.” While certain guidelines must be followed, the ADHC form has greater flexibility to address a variety of issues, than with the previous Living Will form.
3. You can appoint one or more people to act on your behalf and/or to receive information about your health condition. In the ADHC form, you can name someone to make decisions about your care. This person is called your health care representative. You can also name one or more alternate people to act if your first choice designee cannot. Naming your health care representative can give you peace of mind that someone you trust will be able to able to access information about your health and make these important decisions when needed.
4. You can state your wishes about a variety of health matters. You may state your preferences in the ADHC form regarding resuscitation, artificially supplied hydration and/or nutrition, receiving pain relief, or parameters regarding treatment location, in a situation that you are in a coma or are terminally ill.
5. You can add issues or restrictions that are important to you. If there is an issue about which you are concerned that is not addressed in the ADHC form, talk with your attorney to see if including it is appropriate. You can also us the ADHC form to limit some of the powers that your health care representative can have, or to disqualify a person from being allowed to act as your health care representative.
Even though the ADHC form is new to Indiana, a few points remain important. First, as long as you are able, your choices about your own treatment and care will take precedence over the directions of your health care representative. Second, while you have greater flexibility to state your care wishes in the ADHC form, be careful when stating very specific directions, because it is impossible to foresee the full range of issues that could arise. Third, the ADHC form does not replace the importance of having open discussions with your medical providers and with your representatives about your care wishes.