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STATE OF OKLAHOMA
1st Session of the 60th Legislature (2025)
SENATE BILL 937 By: Howard
AS INTRODUCED
An Act relating to health care; creating the Uniform
Health Care Decisions Act of 2025; providing short
title; specifying conditions for capacity for certain
purpose; stipulating extent of certain right;
providing for certain presumptions of capacity;
providing for rebuttal of certain capacity;
prohibiting certain individuals from making specified
findings; authorizing creation of certain health care
instruction; requiring certain documentation;
providing for revocation of health care instruction
under certain condition; authorizing creation of
certain power of attorney; providing for
disqualification of agency under certain conditions;
specifying effect of health care decision;
stipulating requirements for adult witness; defining
presence of witness; allowing certain power of
attorney to include health care instruction;
providing for codification; and providing an
effective date.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF OKLAHOMA:
SECTION 1. NEW LAW A new section of law to be codified
in the Oklahoma Statutes as Section 3105A.1 of Title 63, unless
there is created a duplication in numbering, reads as follows:
This act shall be known and may be cited as the “Uniform Health
Care Decisions Act of 2025”.
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SECTION 2. NEW LAW A new section of law to be codified
in the Oklahoma Statutes as Section 3105A.2 of Title 63, unless
there is created a duplication in numbering, reads as follows:
A. An individual has capacity for the purpose of this act if
the individual:
1. Is willing and able to communicate a decision independently
or with appropriate services, technological assistance, supported
decision-making, or other reasonable accommodation; and
2. In making or revoking:
a. a health care decision, understands the nature and
consequences of the decision, including the primary
risks and benefits of the decision,
b. a health care instruction, understands the nature and
consequences of the instruction, including the primary
risks and benefits of the choices expressed in the
instruction, and
c. an appointment of an agent under a health care power
of attorney or identification of a default surrogate,
recognizes the identity of the individual being
appointed or identified and understands the general
nature of the relationship of the individual making
the appointment or identification with the individual
being appointed or identified.
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B. The right of an individual who has capacity to make a
decision about the individual’s health care is not affected by
whether the individual creates or revokes an advance health care
directive.
SECTION 3. NEW LAW A new section of law to be codified
in the Oklahoma Statutes as Section 3105A.3 of Title 63, unless
there is created a duplication in numbering, reads as follows:
A. An individual is presumed to have capacity to make or revoke
a health care decision, health care instruction, and power of
attorney for health care unless:
1. A court has found the individual lacks capacity to do so; or
2. The presumption is rebutted under subsection B of this
section.
B. Subject to the provisions of this act, a presumption under
subsection A of this section may be rebutted by a finding that the
individual lacks capacity:
1. Subject to subsection C of this section, made on the basis
of a contemporaneous examination by any of the following:
a. a physician,
b. a psychologist licensed or otherwise authorized to
practice in this state,
c. an individual with training and expertise in the
finding of lack of capacity who is licensed or
otherwise authorized to practice in this state as:
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(1) a physician assistant,
(2) an Advanced Practice Registered Nurse, or
(3) a social worker, or
d. a responsible health care professional not described
in subparagraph a, b, or c of this paragraph if:
(1) the individual about whom the finding is to be
made is experiencing a health condition requiring
a decision regarding health care treatment to be
made promptly to avoid loss of life or serious
harm to the health of the individual, and
(2) an individual listed in subparagraph a, b, or c
of this paragraph is not reasonably available;
2. Made in accordance with accepted standards of the profession
and the scope of practice of the individual making the finding and
to a reasonable degree of certainty; and
3. Documented in a record signed by the individual making the
finding that includes an opinion of the cause, nature, extent, and
probable duration of the lack of capacity.
C. The finding under subsection B of this section may not be
made by:
1. A family member of the individual presumed to have capacity;
2. The cohabitant of the individual or a descendant of the
cohabitant; or
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3. The individual’s surrogate, a family member of the
surrogate, or a descendant of the surrogate.
D. If the finding under subsection B of this section was based
on a condition the individual no longer has, or a responsible health
care professional subsequently has good cause to believe the
individual has capacity, the individual is presumed to have capacity
unless a court finds the individual lacks capacity or the
presumption is rebutted under subsection B of this section.
SECTION 4. NEW LAW A new section of law to be codified
in the Oklahoma Statutes as Section 3105A.4 of Title 63, unless
there is created a duplication in numbering, reads as follows:
A. An individual may create a health care instruction that
expresses the individual’s preferences for future health care,
including preferences regarding:
1. Health care professionals or health care institutions;
2. How a health care decision will be made and communicated;
3. Persons that should or should not be consulted regarding a
health care decision;
4. A person to serve as guardian for the individual if one is
appointed; and
5. An individual to serve as a default surrogate.
B. A health care professional to whom an individual
communicates or provides an instruction under subsection A of this
section shall document the instruction and the date of the
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instruction in the individual’s medical record or communicate the
instruction and date of the instruction to an administrator with
responsibility for medical records of the health care institution
providing health care to the individual, who shall document the
instruction and the date of the instruction in the individual’s
medical record.
C. A health care instruction made by an individual that
conflicts with an earlier health care instruction made by the
individual, including an instruction documented in a medical order,
revokes the earlier instruction to the extent of the conflict.
D. A health care instruction may be in the same record as a
power of attorney for health care.
SECTION 5. NEW LAW A new section of law to be codified
in the Oklahoma Statutes as Section 3105A.5 of Title 63, unless
there is created a duplication in numbering, reads as follows:
A. An individual may create a power of attorney for health care
to appoint an agent to make health care decisions for the
individual.
B. An individual is disqualified from acting as agent for an
individual who lacks capacity to make health care decisions if:
1. A court finds that the potential agent poses a danger to the
individual’s well-being, even if the court does not issue a
restraining order against the potential agent; or
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2. The potential agent is an owner, operator, employee, or
contractor of a nursing home or other residential care facility in
which the individual resides or is receiving care, unless the owner,
operator, employee, or contractor is a family member of the
individual, the cohabitant of the individual, or a descendant of the
cohabitant.
C. A health care decision made by an agent is effective without
judicial approval.
D. A power of attorney for health care must be in a record,
signed by the individual creating the power, and signed by an adult
witness who:
1. Reasonably believes the act of the individual to create the
power of attorney is voluntary and knowing;
2. Is not:
a. the agent appointed by the individual,
b. the agent’s spouse, domestic partner, or cohabitant,
or
c. if the individual resides or is receiving care in a
nursing home or other residential care facility, the
owner, operator, employee, or contractor of the
nursing home or other residential care facility; and
3. Is present when the individual signs the power of attorney
or when the individual represents that the power of attorney
reflects the individual’s wishes.
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E. A witness under subsection D of this section is considered
present if the witness and the individual are:
1. Physically present in the same location;
2. Using electronic means that allow for real-time audio and
visual transmission and communication in real time to the same
extent as if the witness and the individual were physically present
in the same location; or
3. Able to speak to and hear each other in real time through
audio connection if:
a. the identity of the individual is personally known to
the witness, or
b. the witness is able to authenticate the identity of
the individual by receiving accurate answers from the
individual that enable the authentication.
F. A power of attorney for health care may include a health
care instruction.
SECTION 6. This act shall become effective November 1, 2025.
60-1-329 DC 1/19/2025 5:46:20 AM