SPONSOR:	Rep. Barbieri & Sen. Hall-Long
	Reps. Baumbach, Heffernan, Jaques, Longhurst, Mitchell; Sens. Henry, Hocker

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

147th GENERAL ASSEMBLY

HOUSE BILL NO. 42

AN ACT TO AMEND TITLE 16 OF THE DELAWARE CODE RELATING TO HEALTH-CARE DECISIONS.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF DELAWARE:

Section 1. Amend § 2507, Title 16 of the Delaware Code by making insertions as shown by underlining as follows:

§ 2507. Surrogates.

(a) A surrogate may make a health care decision to treat, withdraw or withhold treatment for an adult patient if the patient has been determined by the attending physician to lack capacity and there is no agent or guardian, or if the directive does not address the specific issue. This determination shall be confirmed in writing in the patient's medical record by the attending physician. Without this determination and confirmation, the patient is presumed to have capacity and may give or revoke an advance health care directive or disqualify a surrogate.

(b)(1) A mentally competent patient may designate any individual to act as a surrogate by personally informing the supervising health-care provider in the presence of a witness. The designated surrogate may not act as a witness. The designation of the surrogate shall be confirmed in writing in the patient's medical record by the supervising health-care provider and signed by the witness.

(2) In the absence of a designation or if the designee is not reasonably available, any member of the following classes of the patient's family who is reasonably available, in the descending order of priority, may act, when permitted by this section, as a surrogate and shall be recognized as such by the supervising health-care provider:

a. The spouse, unless a petition for divorce has been filed;

b. An adult child;

c. A parent;

d. An adult sibling;

e. An adult grandchild;

f. An adult niece or nephew.;

g. An adult aunt or uncle.

Individuals specified in this subsection are disqualified from acting as a surrogate if the patient has filed a petition for a Protection From Abuse order against the individual or if the individual is the subject of a civil or criminal order prohibiting contact with the patient.

SYNOPSIS

This bill adds adult aunts and uncles to the list of relatives who may act as a surrogate to make health care decisions for an adult patient if the patient lacks capacity and there is no agent or guardian, no prior designated surrogate, the prior designated surrogate is unavailable, or the health-care directive does not address the specific issue.