My grandmother (91) has been sick lately, and the only POA in the family is her 68 year old son who lives in a different state, who hasn't even seen her in 2 years. Her Alzheimer's is getting severe where she doesn't even remember me (her granddaughter), and it's making simple things like going to the doctor extremely hard. I'm the main caregiver for her, and I'm in charge of all of the bills and medical stuff. Would POA make it easier to get her the help she needs, instead of having to do things such as spending an hour fighting with her to sign a piece of paper?
Her son is POA .. and that is how it will remain unless you get a court to assign a guardian for her.
Discuss with her son how to handle this now. He cannot designate you POA. ... only she could do that...but now it is too late
Why don't you tell us more about what kind of help you are trying to get. A POA will not necessarily help you get her to the doctor. Are there situations in which others are not recognizing her impaired capacity? (For instance, are others letting her be the judge of whether or not she needs to go to the doctor?)
And have you notified the doctor of your concerns and difficulties? You do not need to be POA or even have HIPAA authorization to do this. The doctor may have limits on what can be disclosed to you, but family always has the right to express concerns to involved clinicians. (Best to do it in writing, so it goes into her chart.) And if you are her primary caregiver, the doctor should absolutely know what kind of challenges you are encountering with her care.
I would also recommend you read the HIPAA FAQs for individuals on the health and human services website. They explain when clinicians can disclose information to family members and caregivers, even if the patient is unable to give consent.
https://www.hhs.gov/hipaa/for-individuals/faq/index.html
Lastly, you should certainly try to coordinate with your grandmother's POA. The details of the POA document and your state laws will probably determine whether the authority of the POA can be transferred to you or not.
Good luck.
Moral: be very careful when you select the person to whom you give POA, and review your choice regularly.
And then I completely agree with @Countrymouse: a POA should not be a "set it and forget it" document. It's important to regularly review the documents, discuss with the named individuals (and perhaps others in the family), and then consider whether any changes might be justified.
but to late my mom had to go into a nursing home for 13 days .iwanted to find out about her medicine & they would not tell me a thing but the next week they complain she was wandering at night well i knew that they did not give her meds for that .so that is why there needs to be a poa so that is good but your brother needs to get involved .if she goes in a nursing home they will not tell you much at all ..i hate that ..good luck
I know that I would not consent to do it again, except for my parents and I'm waivering on those. I accepted for my second cousin and it's tied my life up for the next chapter of my life. Her life expectancy, is uncertain. It's literally years of your life that you are limited to travel, recreation, residence local, lifestyle, etc.
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