medical power of attorneyn.
Reviewed by Owen Hathaway, AttorneyUpdated June 15, 2026A document naming someone to make health-care decisions for a person who can't make them, covering far more than end-of-life choices.
A medical power of attorney appoints an agent to make health-care decisions for the principal whenever the principal lacks the capacity to make them. Its scope is broad, covering consent to or refusal of treatment, choice of providers, and access to medical records, and is not limited to end-of-life situations.
It works hand in hand with a living will: the living will states treatment preferences, while the medical power of attorney names the person empowered to apply them and to decide everything the living will does not address.
Colorado and Wyoming each recognize health-care agents through their own statutory frameworks. Pairing this document with a HIPAA authorization ensures the agent can actually obtain the medical information needed to decide.
Related terms
- HIPAA authorizationA signed permission that lets named people receive a person's protected health information. Without it, even a chosen agent can be stonewalled by privacy rules.
- advance directiveAn umbrella term for legal documents that record health-care wishes and treatment instructions before a crisis, covering scenarios from temporary incapacity to persistent vegetative state to end of life.
- guardianA person a court appoints (or a parent nominates) to make personal and care decisions for someone who can't, such as a minor child or an incapacitated adult.