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On Wednesday, June 4, the Michigan House Judiciary Committee heard testimony from MEJI's Nicole Shannon on House Bills 4418-4419, which would permit family members to consent to medical treatment on behalf of incapacitated loved ones. Michigan is an outlier, as the vast majority of other states already have similar provisions in place. These bills represent years of hard work from the Michigan Attorney General's Elder Abuse Task Force and MEJI staff. "These bills represent a common sense alternative to guardianship that is already in place across the country. It is time for Michigan to join," said Shannon.

Currently, if an incapacitated adult does not have a patient advocate (medical power of attorney), the only practical option is guardianship. This means that instead of spending time at their loved one's bedside, family members must instead go through the stressful and time consuming process filing a court action. Similarly, once the patient recovers, they must return to court to end the guardianship. Under the proposed legislation, a family member would automatically be empowered to make decisions if their loved one becomes incapacitated, but the patient would automatically regain that authority when they have capacity again.

The bills were referred out of the Michigan House Judiciary Committee on Wednesday, June 11. The next step is a vote on the House floor.