Bill > SB1088

This bill updates California law regarding health care decisions, specifically concerning life-sustaining treatment and resuscitative measures. It replaces the term "Physician Orders for Life Sustaining Treatment" with the acronym "POLST" and clarifies that a POLST form, along with prehospital "do not resuscitate" (DNR) forms, are considered valid requests regarding resuscitative measures. The bill expands the authority to sign these requests to include a health care agent, conservator, or surrogate, in addition to an individual with capacity, and allows these requests to be signed by a physician, nurse practitioner, or physician assistant. Importantly, the bill emphasizes that completing or refusing to complete a POLST or DNR form is entirely voluntary and cannot be a condition for receiving care or admission to a facility. It also permits electronic signatures for these documents and ensures that requests made in other states are valid in California if they comply with either that state's laws or California's laws, with healthcare providers allowed to presume the validity of such requests unless they have reason to believe otherwise.

https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billStatusClient.xhtml?bill_id=202520260SB1088