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Hospital Visitation & Decision-Making Rights for More Americans
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Aug 2010
Imagine that your loved one was in the hospital and you were not allowed visitation rights—even in a life-threatening situation. Unfortunately, for some Americans, this has been a harsh reality as many hospitals across the country do not allow those unrelated by blood or marriage into a patient’s hospital room.
In April 2010, however, President Obama asked the Department of Health and Human Services to create rules for hospitals to provide visitation and decision-making rights to more Americans. The mandate applies to gay couples, unmarried straight couples, and widows/widowers who may be dependent on close friends, among others. ''By taking these steps, we can better protect the interests and needs of patients… for whom their loved ones are not always immediate relatives,” stated White House spokesman Shin Inouye.
The new rules are being called a win for gay rights, as all hospitals receiving Medicare or Medicaid funding from the government (a majority of the hospitals in the US) will be required to grant hospital visitation rights to same-sex couples.
The change in rules also affects the way an assigned person can make healthcare decisions for someone else, such as through a living will or healthcare power of attorney. A Living Will is a legal document that outlines one’s wishes for healthcare and appoints someone to carry out those wishes in a dire situation. This document is only “activated” when the patient is in a comatose state or otherwise unable to make his or her own healthcare decisions. Under the new rules, hospitals will be required to respect healthcare powers of attorney regardless of the assigned person’s relationship to the patient.
“There are few moments in our lives that call for greater compassion and companionship than when a loved one is admitted to the hospital,” the president stated in his memo, dated April 15, 2010. “In these hours of need and moments of pain and anxiety, all of us would hope to have a hand to hold, a shoulder on which to lean—a loved one to be there for us, as we would be there for them.”
More info:
LegalZoom Blog: Obama: Hospital Patients Can Designate Visitors
US Department of Health and Human Services
Obama Alters Hospital Rules for Gay Rights (The New York Times)
Most Viewed in Marriage & Domestic Partnership
Comments
Submitted by on Jul 27, 2010 - 10:45AM
I thought a healthcare surrogate was already a legal way for someone to be appointed in case I can't make medical decisions at some point. I did one of these years ago.
Submitted by on Oct 1, 2010 - 6:02AM
My mother died in winchester hospital pass june 2010. Her deather certificate says she died from gangreen. I do not believe that is true. My mom was told she needed a pace maker. She did not belive so. I dxid not belive mom needed a pace maker either. The saturday after the pace maker was put in her, I saw moms right arm was swollen.I begged the nurse before mom take dialysis to check moma arm to see why it is swollen. They found a blood clot. The hospital had thin moms blood too thin and they could not get her pressure. The monday after that moma asked for a tynenol for her stomach. The nurse gave her a pain pill instead. When mom woke up she started talking out of her head. Mom or I did not tell that nurse to give her a hard pain pill. The next day on tuesday afternoon moma took a hard breath ans stp talking. I called for help. The nurse came in thr room ans sais mom is ok then the nurse walked out. Mom still was not talking I called for the nurse and doctor to come back in to the room. They saw mom was not ok. They took mom to icu and was told she is not going to live through the night. The tube put in her showed blood coming out of momas stomach. Moma died wed morn at 3 57 am. The hospital caused her death. Moma went in to the hospital because of her large left toe nail being loose and hurting her. City hospital in martinsburg wv did nothing for her toe. She moved to wqincher va and they did nothing. Both hospitals thinned moms blood with hepron a pill amnd asprin everyday from june 5th until close to june 20th. Mother Elizabeth brooks should be living with her children today can you help us?
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