Preventing a nightmare

Dear pearle, A new service called DocuBank can help you avoid a nightmare scenario at the hospital. They're offering one year free and special discounts for anyone who joins HRC as a 2011 member now. Join HRC for 2011 and get a free year of DocuBank. After a decade at HRC's Family Project, I've heard too many horror stories. Loved ones barred from hospital rooms. A man forced to drive two and a half hours to get healthcare directives while his partner lay in the hospital after a brain injury. The pain of discrimination at the worst possible moment. Whether you're LGBT or straight, in an emergency it's critical that doctors know your healthcare wishes and, if you're incapacitated, that they have your emergency information and can notify the right people. If you already have written proof of your healthcare wishes, you're on the right track. But you can't carry your documents with you everywhere. What if they're sitting in a file cabinet at home when the unthinkable occurs? No one should have to go through that – and you don't have to. There's a great service called DocuBank that can help you avoid it. If you donate to HRC right now, you'll not only become an HRC member for 2011 – you'll also get easy access to a full year of DocuBank service for free. Join HRC for 2011 now, and get a year of DocuBank for free. DocuBank stores electronic copies of all the legal documents you might need in a medical emergency – Healthcare Powers of Attorney, living wills, HIPAA releases, visitation documents – along with vital information like your allergies and emergency contacts. Using a card you carry in your wallet, hospital staff can immediately obtain your documents by fax or a secure webpage, even if you're alone or incapacitated. This is such a critical service that we've partnered with DocuBank to provide special discounts for HRC members year-round: $25 per year (regularly $45) or $95 for 5 years (regularly $145). And if you register with DocuBank by May 16, 2011, you can receive a year of free access from DocuBank in recognition of National Healthcare Decisions Day. Our arrangement with DocuBank makes it easy for you to register by this deadline! DocuBank can be helpful whether you're gay or straight, single or in a relationship. It makes your healthcare wishes and emergency information immediately available 24/7/365, worldwide. And even with new federal regulations on hospital visitation, along with great improvements in laws and hospital policies after decades of work by HRC and others, it's still important to document your wishes – and to have that documentation available to doctors as quickly as possible especially in case of emergency. Without this protection, the person you've chosen to speak for you may be scrambling to retrieve your documents after an accident or incident, at a time when you should be together. Learn more about DocuBank's offer for HRC members: substantial discounts and easy registration for a year of free service if you enroll by May 16, 2011. I've heard stories of discrimination even in places where you'd think LGBT people would be respected – D.C., New York, California – and even in the time since President Obama issued his landmark hospital visitation rules. DocuBank can help protect your wishes at the most critical moments. I hope you'll look into it. Sincerely, Tom Sullivan HRC Family Project P.S. If you don't have documentation of your healthcare wishes, in an emergency you may be unable to make medical decisions or state who you want to visit you. The HRC Family Project has put together some resources on protecting your hospital visitation and decision-making rights.

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