Without a separate HIPAA release, even your healthcare agent may be able to make decisions but not easily access records, and non-agent family may be stonewalled. HIPAA stands for the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996.
Glossary · end-of-life
HIPAA Authorization
Acronym: HIPAA
In plain English
A release allowing healthcare providers to share your protected health information with people you name.