College is that unique time in your life when, depending on the situation, you can conveniently jump the fence between being an adult and being a kid. Most of us are at least 18 and considered legal adults; legal adults who are often still under our parents health insurance, listed on their taxes and not financially independent.

Now imagine that you have been in a car accident, are unconscious and unable to speak for yourself. It would only make sense that your parents would be able to make health care decisions for you, right?

Wrong. Under New York State Law, one of the privileges of being a legal adult is that our own parents are denied access to our medical records at all times, even in emergency situations. They also don’t have a say in what medical treatment you should be given while you are unconscious.

Many of the victim’s families of the Virginia Tech shootings found this out the hard way when they were denied critical medical information about their children because it was considered a breach in the student’s privacy under HIPAA, the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act.

The probability of you being in such an emergency situation is slim, but there’s still a chance. And if there’s a chance that your life could be left in the hands of doctors or judges who don’t know you, wouldn’t you rather have the insurance of appointing someone you can trust to make those decisions for you?

You can do this, but you need to take action. You need to designate in writing a person you trust to be your voice when you can’t speak for yourself. Filling out a health care proxy form is the best way to do this. You don’t even need a lawyer to draw up the document; there are ready-made forms you can use. You can find more information and state-specific forms at caringinfo.org. If you’re an out-of-state student, it’s probably a good idea to fill out forms for both New York, and your home state, just in case.

Actually needing a health care proxy may never cross your mind as it does for the elderly, chronically ill or disabled. And it may seem that speaking about it with your family or friends is unnecessary and pessimistic.

But the difference between you and the elderly is that you benefit the most from planning ahead. It is the young and the healthy that are strong enough to survive long after a serious illness or accident. Health care proxies are for everyone, not just the elderly. You need the assurance that your wishes will be carried out when you can’t express them yourself.

Terri Schiavo was only 26 when a brief lack of oxygen left her severely brain-damaged for 15 years while her husband and family fought over whether or not to continue her artificial nutrition. At the age of 21, Karen Ann Quinlan fell unconscious after coming home from a party and lapsed into a coma with irreversible brain damage and no hope of recovery. The hospital refused to remove her from her ventilator, even with her parents’ insistence that continuing her life artificially contrasted with Karen’s religious beliefs. Only after taking the case to the Supreme Court were the Quinlans able to remove Karen from artificial respiration.

These young women had no health care proxy to speak for them. In the eyes of the courts, not even their own families could speak for them. If the worst is to happen, who will speak for you?

Veronica Conti ’08 is an intern at the Cornell Health Planning Council. She can be contacted at vec4@cornell.edu. Guest Room appears periodically.