RELATING TO HEALTH CARE.

New definitions for 'cohabitant', 'supported decision making', 'default surrogate', and 'reasonably available' to clarify who can make health care decisions and how.

Establishes a presumption of capacity that can only be rebutted by a qualified health care professional using specific criteria, protecting individuals' rights to make their own decisions.

Creates a new default surrogate selection process for individuals who lack capacity and have no appointed agent, prioritizing close relationships and the individual's known wishes.

Introduces a 'Ulysses clause' option in advance mental health care directives, allowing individuals to prevent revocation of their directive during specific psychiatric or psychological events.

Updates existing statutes to align with the new chapter, including changes to emergency medical services identification documents, guardianship petitions, and insurance enrollment requirements.

Adds statutory damages for intentional violations of advance health care directives, with higher penalties for health care professionals who fail to comply with valid instructions.

Sets January 1, 2026 as the effective date for new directives, with transitional provisions for existing directives to remain valid if they comply with current or new law.

Creates a unified chapter covering both advance health care directives and advance mental health care directives under one statutory framework.

Adds new definition for 'advance mental health care directive' and expands 'health care' to explicitly include mental health care.

Updates 'family member' definition to include cohabitants and adult children of spouses, civil union partners, and other relatives.

Introduces 'Ulysses clause' allowing individuals to specify that their mental health care directive cannot be revoked during a psychiatric or psychological crisis.

Establishes detailed rules for default surrogates when no agent is appointed, including disqualification criteria and selection processes.

Repeals chapters 327E and 327G and replaces them with new chapter on health care decisions.

Requires health care professionals to document objections to capacity findings and communicate them to medical records administrators.

Adds civil penalties of up to $25,000 for intentional falsification or concealment of advance directives.

Sets effective date of July 1, 3000, with transitional provisions for directives created before that date.

Updates guardian appointment priority to include agents and default surrogates from advance directives before family members.

Added a 'Ulysses clause' provision allowing individuals to prevent revocation of their mental health care directives during specified psychiatric or psychological events.

Created new unified definitions for terms like 'advance health care directive,' 'agent,' 'default surrogate,' 'capacity,' and 'health care instruction' to apply across both physical and mental health contexts.

Modified eligibility criteria for default surrogates by adding disqualifications for nursing home employees and clarifying spousal disqualification rules during divorce proceedings.

Added statutory damages provisions ($25,000 or actual damages) for intentional falsification or concealment of advance directives, and $5,000 for violations of professional duties.

Changed the effective date from the original July 1, 2026 to July 1, 3000, likely as a placeholder requiring legislative correction.

Removed the previous separate statutory frameworks for health care directives (chapter 327E) and mental health care directives (chapter 327G), replacing them with a single unified chapter.

Creates a new unified chapter for health care decisions that combines power of attorney, health care instructions, and advance mental health care directives into one statutory framework.

Repeals the previous chapters 327E and 327G that governed advance health care directives and advance mental health care directives separately.

Adds new definitions for terms like 'advance mental health care directive,' 'default surrogate,' 'cohabitant,' and 'supported decision making' to clarify who can make decisions and how.

Establishes a presumption that adults have capacity to make health care decisions unless proven otherwise, with specific procedures for challenging that presumption.

Introduces a 'Ulysses clause' provision allowing individuals to specify that their mental health care directive cannot be revoked during a psychiatric or psychological crisis.

Updates how default surrogates are selected when no agent is appointed, requiring interested persons to reach consensus and adding disqualification criteria for spouses in legal separation or divorce proceedings.

Adds civil penalties of up to $25,000 for intentionally falsifying advance directives and $5,000 for health care professionals who violate duties to surrogates.

Sets January 1, 2026 as the effective date for new directives, with transitional provisions allowing existing directives to remain valid if they comply with current or new law.