2015 Edition - The Practical Guide To Health Care Advance Directives [Paperback]

What youve heard is true. You need health care advance directives. Would you like to know why? In the award-winning 2006 edition of this book, Last things first, just in case . . . Living Wills and Durable Powers of Attorney for Health Care, attorney Jo Kline Cebuhar first addressed the approaching crisis surrounding aging and end-of-life care in America. Here are a few of the issues that continue to impact death and dying in the United States: Every day, 10,000 more Baby Boomers qualify for Medicare benefits. Four states have legalized physician-assisted suicide and 26 others are considering it. By 2030, there will be nearly 1,000,000 job openings for nursesand no nurses to fill them. Twenty-five percent of the Medicare budget is spent in the last year of life for recipients. In the coming decades, the number of Americans 65 and older will double while the number of those 85 and older will triple. How is it possible to manage your health care if youre incapacitated? What if you dont have health care advance directives? Whats the difference between a Living Will and a proxy appointment? Should you have POLST-type medical orders? Can your Living Will serve as a Do Not Resuscitate order? Will your advance directives be honored while youre travelling? Bringing together legal expertise, engaging stories and a plain-spoken narrative, attorney Jo Kline Cebuhar answers these questions and helps readers prepare to face the unique legal and medical challenges of death and dying in America. This user-friendly guide to creating and sharing effective health care advance directives includes: The Four Simple Steps: education, delegation, communication, documentation. The practical relevance and shortcomings of todays advance planning tools. Easy-to-grasp explanations of legal and medical terminology. Current laws and court decisions regarding death and dying in America. The importance of a health care proxy and how to chool#n