Attorney Thomas B. Burton explains how a standalone HIPAA release can be very useful as part of your comprehensive estate plan.
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Transcript of Video: Why You Should Consider a Standalone HIPAA Release
Today's question why should I consider a
standalone HIPPA release as part of my
estate plan a HIPPA release has to do
with the Health Insurance Portability
Act the federal law governing your
medical records they cannot release those
records to anyone but you
under the HIPPA laws now if you execute
a power of attorney document for health
care with my office inside that the
agent you name will be authorized to
receive her medical records under HIPPA
where this can become a problem is if
your financial the person named as
agent under your financial power of
attorney or the trustee under your trust
is often not the same person as your
health care power of attorney and for good reason
these people may need access to your
medical records to get a doctor's
opinion to sign off that you're
incapacitated meaning you're unable to
manage your financial affairs so that
they can act under your financial power
of attorney or trust document if they
don't have access to your medical
records they can't talk with the doctor
about it in order to get that
authorization now your your
healthcare power of attorney could do
this in concert with them but if it's
not the same person in some cases it is the
the same person your trustee your healthcare agent and
your financial agent but for many reasons you
will have someone who you trust to make
your medical decisions but they're not
necessarily the same person to do the
financial that's where the standalone
HIPPA release can come in the HIPPA
release authorizes your financial agent
or trustee to access your medical
records just for the purpose of becoming
authorized under their document to act they
don't have the authority to make medical
decisions for you like your health care
power of attorney they simply have the
access to your medical records so that
if you have a springing power of
attorney for finances or a clause in
your trust stating a doctor must sign
off as to your incapacity before your
trustee may act then they can get
access to this so the doctor can provide
that statement
so they can be activated under your
financial power of attorney or trust
document that's why a HIPPA release can
be a very valuable piece of your
comprehensive estate plan and talk with
your attorney about whether it makes
sense to have a standalone HIPPA release
in your specific situation.
Great question and thanks for asking.
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Transcript and captions provided for ease of access for the hearing impaired.