Does a Living Will Affect Health Insurance?

A living will is a legal document that you can use to ensure that your medical desires are met if you ever get so sick or seriously injured that you cannot express your wishes yourself. Whether you have health insurance or not, the terms of your living will generally do not affect your policy, premiums or other factors. However, living will laws and health insurance policies differ widely, so talk to a lawyer if you need legal advice.

General Concepts

Living wills are a specific kind of legal document that only get used in the event you can no longer communicate your medical decisions to your doctor or other health-care providers. You must be an adult of sound mind in order to create a living will and must ensure your living will meet all your state's requirements. These typically include that you make the will in writing, sign it and possibly have it witnessed or notarized.

Insurance

A living will is simply a document and does not affect your ability to obtain health insurance. You can create a living will at any time and regardless of what health insurance carrier you have or the details of your policy. Your health insurance company may provide you with counseling or resources to aid you in creating a living will, but your insurance is not contingent on your creating one.

Required Directives

You cannot be forced to create an advance directive such as a living will or health care proxy as a condition of your health-care insurance policy. Health-care providers and insurance companies cannot force you to create such a document, nor can they adjust your premiums or force you to pay more money because you fail to have a living will or other kind of advance directive.

Optional Provisions

Some health insurance providers and policies give people the option of creating advanced directives, including living wills and health-care powers of attorney. Even if your health-care company has such an option, such as providing for health-care counseling with a qualified attorney or provider to aid you in creating a living will, you are never required to create such a directive. However, it may be possible for a health-care provider to provide incentives for you to create a living will, such as offering you a lower premium if you do.