National Healthcare Decisions Day: Advance care planning lets your care be on your terms
Planning ahead is part of life—we plan for kids, retirement and even vacations. But what about unexpected health emergencies? If you find yourself in good health, you may think, “I’ll take care of that later.” But the best time to consider your health care wishes is before you become too ill to make your own treatment decisions.
At its core, advance care planning involves deciding what kind of care you would want if faced with a serious illness or diagnosis. This helps ensure your wishes are known and respected, giving you and your loved ones peace of mind. Whether you’re marking National Healthcare Decisions Day or simply thinking ahead, taking time to plan for future medical decisions is a valuable gift to yourself and your family.
Advance care planning starts with a conversation
When a serious health event or illness occurs, families can face difficult decisions about their loved one’s care. Medical professionals typically ask for one person to speak on behalf of the ill or injured person. Without clear guidance, this spokesperson may face a difficult and emotionally exhausting task. Family tensions can also rise when members disagree about the "right" care decisions.
This is why having conversations about your health care wishes is so important—and why these discussions should happen while you're healthy, not during a medical crisis. Though you can’t plan for every situation, early discussions help your providers, family and close friends understand what matters to you.
One of the most important steps in advance care planning is choosing a health care proxy—someone you trust to make medical decisions on your behalf if you become unable to speak for yourself. You can also document your care preferences in a living will, which can help guide medical treatment decisions.
Resources are available to guide advance care planning conversations
For over a decade, The Conversation Project has championed advance care planning conversations and encouraged people to talk about their care wishes so they are understood and respected. The organization offers a number of helpful online resources to help people navigate the advance care planning process with today’s challenges in mind.
Regence advance care planning resources
Most Regence health plans include coverage for palliative care through our Personalized Care Support program. Palliative care focuses on improving symptoms and quality of life at any point during a serious or advanced illness. It's not limited to end-of-life care. The palliative care member benefit covers:
- Adult and pediatric palliative care case management, including help with care coordination and benefit navigation with nurses through telephone support
- Home health medical, which supports daily living activities
- Psychosocial support, including at-home individual, family and marriage counseling
- Caregiver support, even if the caregiver is not a Regence member
- Reimbursement of goals of care/advance care planning (ACP) conversations for providers and members
- To support our Medicare Advantage members, we cover goals of care/advance care planning conversations at no cost share ($0 copay), regardless of the visit type or place of service
For more information, visit regence.com or talk our Customer Service team by calling the number on the back of your member ID card.
Orignally published April 15, 2022
