Health care agent
The person named in a health care proxy to make medical decisions when the patient cannot.
What it means
The agent's job is to decide as the patient would have decided, using what the patient said, wrote, or made clear by how they lived — not what the agent would choose for themselves.
The authority is normally limited to health care, begins only when the patient cannot decide, and ends when they can again.
It is a distinct role from a financial power of attorney, and the same person does not have to hold both.
Why it matters
It is a heavy thing to be asked to do without warning, and much lighter if the conversation happened first. The value of naming an agent is largely in the conversation it forces.
Clinicians will ask the agent directly, and an agent who has never discussed it is left guessing in a corridor.
When you are likely to meet it
- When named on a parent's advance directive.
- When a hospital asks who is authorized to consent.
- When family members disagree about care.
How this varies by state
The document's name, its execution requirements and how far the agent's authority reaches all change at a state line.