The advances in modern medicine are nearly miraculous. People who were once considered terminal cases now have a fighting chance to recover, survive, and thrive. Consumers are becoming aware of new therapies and treatments and they are also more cost-conscious. They want second opinions and will decide what they would like to have as their treatment. That freedom of choice is excellent, but it does not mean anything if the patient is unresponsive.
Following the Protocols
Healthcare providers will follow standard protocols of treatment if they have no other instructions from the patient. These procedures might not be what the patient wants. The treatments could also be costly. Nevertheless, without the patient’s instructions, the protocols will be followed. It would be beneficial if group legal plans provided living wills and medical powers of attorney benefits. The documents offer these valuable benefits:
- The living will specifies what medical procedures will be used if the patient is not responsive;
- Medical powers of attorney authorize a trusted person to make decisions for an unresponsive patient. That person knows what the patient wants and instructs the healthcare providers accordingly.
Countrywide Pre-Paid Legal Services knows the value of both legal documents. We have living wills and medical powers of attorney as a benefit option in our Group Legal Plan.
Use of Experienced Experts
Some vendors use online templates to compose legal documents and Countrywide doesn’t agree with that practice. We think face-to-face meetings with an attorney are critical. Countrywide attorneys practice in the community and a client’s employee can easily arrange for a meeting. That plan member will be sitting down with an experienced professional. Our lawyers know all about living wills and medical powers of attorney.
An ordinary person is not familiar with living wills. The Countrywide lawyer will carefully explain what is necessary for drafting a living will. Questions are encouraged and answered. The responsibilities outlined in the medical powers of attorney must be understood. A Countrywide attorney will remind a group legal plan member to explain to the designated person what the individual must do in the event of a medical crisis.
The Client Makes Benefit Decisions
Countrywide’s goal is to offer a pre-paid legal services benefit all employees can use. We have administered benefits since 1987, and we understand that two clients are not the same; demographics and needs are different. We ask clients to select what benefit options will be included in their respective plan. We will provide the services.
Assistance from Countrywide is comprehensive. In addition to primary pre-paid legal services options, we have a streamlined administration to deliver services quickly. Plan members can make an unlimited number of telephone calls to a Countrywide attorney on a given matter. The attorney is permitted to write letters and make telephone calls on behalf of the plan member, if necessary. These additional services add higher quality to the benefit.
This pre-paid legal services benefit option permits an individual to choose a treatment he or she is comfortable having performed. We do recommend that a Group Legal Plan member be familiar with the medical procedure before including it in a living will. We furthermore suggest that only a trusted person be given medical powers of attorney. Countrywide allows a client to have greater control over his or her medical treatment. The individual’s wishes are respected even though that same person might be in a coma.
You may want to know more about Countrywide and our benefits. We would welcome the chance to explain in greater detail about what we can do for your employees. We invite you to contact us at your earliest convenience. We welcome all your questions and we look forward to providing you with the answers.