New GA medical rule

[WaiexN143NM]

Hi all,
I dont think a doctor would sign this form unless they have prior contact or longer term knowledge about you as a patient. . Will be interesting to see what the going $ rate will be for this visit/form.
John mentioned his doctor will chrg $100. Whats the avg going rate for a faa class 3?. Mark, i agree its silly for a class 3 over 40 yrs age every 2 yrs, and a basic med any age every 4 yrs. David , i agree the LSA's need only a drivers license. This keeps their value . I dont think this will change, too much of a huge outcry.
I'm going to read over the basic med rules again. Is there a doctor /doctors in our community? (Sonex) Would they be willing to be at sonex / aviation get togethers fly ins etc to meet sonex pilots to get a basic med cert.? Willing to charge, or donate fees to SBPF to host bbq's at events etc. What do you guys/gals think of this idea? Any doctors in the house? Any other ideas?
WaiexN143NM
Michael
P.S. Just reread avweb article. Good reading pro and con in the comments section. Get a cup of coffee, 56 comments so far.......

[airscribe]

Wow...Congress gives GA pilots a gift -- against the wishes of some members AND the FAA itself -- and the carping begins. Reality check: The FAA successfully ignored, for years, the joint petition seeking Third Class Medical Reform from AOPA and EAA. That petition sought to let private pilots self-certify with state driver's license as the validation. BUT...that petition limited pilots to flying with one passenger in aircraft up to 4 seats and no more than 180 horsepower. No higher than 10,00 msl. No night or IFR, either. Now IFR may not be of concern to a lot of pilots flying sport aircraft, but it is a big deal to a lot of others. So, it was a proposal for a super LSA-style of flying...you could fly your Skyhawk or Cherokee -- but carry only one person.

So what did we get?

First up: A more liberal exam system that can be accomplished during a regular office visit -- and who doesn't see a doctor at least once in four years? Doesn't have to be a special appointment; can be part of a regular annual physical.

Second up: Far broader privileges...Day, night, VFR and IFR, aircraft up to 6,000 pounds, up to six seats, at speeds up to 250 knots -- and at altitudes up to but not including FL180 -- 18,000 feet.

The insurers are gonna cover it just fine, just as they do know -- because it's a legal FAA regulation. They insure LSA and Sport Pilots -- and a lot of people flying under BasicMed will be more experienced with more training...

And without Congress forcing the issue we'd have nothing...NOTHING...because some in the FAA refused to let medical reform move forward...in fact, the fact that we got so much more than the AOPA/EAA petition is partly because of the opponents in Congress who also didn't want to see it happen -- period.

As for the Pilot's Bill of Rights...apples and oranges...they are wholly unrelated except for appearing in the same piece of legislation.

We heard the same doom-and-gloom nonsense more than a decade ago, at the outside of the Light Sport category and Sport Pilot option -- and to echo another post, the forecasts have not come true. Celebrate the win, folks. It's better than we hoped for -- and more than we were going to get under the original proposal, which was going to be zero.

Dave
Waiex #0216
Quick Build; AeroVee Turbo
N275AB reserved

[fastj22]

Hi all,
I dont think a doctor would sign this form unless they have prior contact or longer term knowledge about you as a patient. . Will be interesting to see what the going $ rate will be for this visit/form.
John mentioned his doctor will chrg $100. Whats the avg going rate for a faa class 3?. Mark, i agree its silly for a class 3 over 40 yrs age every 2 yrs, and a basic med any age every 4 yrs. David , i agree the LSA's need only a drivers license. This keeps their value . I dont think this will change, too much of a huge outcry.
I'm going to read over the basic med rules again. Is there a doctor /doctors in our community? (Sonex) Would they be willing to be at sonex / aviation get togethers fly ins etc to meet sonex pilots to get a basic med cert.? Willing to charge, or donate fees to SBPF to host bbq's at events etc. What do you guys/gals think of this idea? Any doctors in the house? Any other ideas?
WaiexN143NM
Michael
P.S. Just reread avweb article. Good reading pro and con in the comments section. Get a cup of coffee, 56 comments so far.......

My AME charges $100 for the 3rd Class. So for him, it would be the same to sign the BasicMed. If I used my primary care doc, I'd just bring the form on one of my annual physicals and it would just be another form to have him fill out and my insurance would probably cover it. I have two years to decide if I get my 3rd class again. I'm working on my Commercial rating now and will probably need to bump up to a 2nd class anyways by then if I want to exercise the Commercial privileges.

As far as finding a doc to sign your form, I think it will be like the medical marijuana docs that popped up that rubber stamp a prescription for a quick $100.

[daleandee]

*

[ihab]

Wow...Congress gives GA pilots a gift -- against the wishes of some members AND the FAA itself

Just a quick note. The FAA asked us to lobby our Congresscritters to force the FAA to pass this legislation, because they alone were not able to justify it to the DoT lawyers. See:

https://www.eaa.org/en/airventure/eaa-a ... uerta-says

“I have conversations with very smart people,” the administrator said. “We talk about data, mitigations, everything we’re putting in place, and at the end people are saying, ‘Aviation is just different.’ I’m not saying it’s right or rational, but that’s the reality; we need to acknowledge that that perspective deserves to be answered.”

https://www.aopa.org/news-and-media/all ... at-oshkosh

At the Meet the Administrator session, Huerta urged members of the audience to contact their members of Congress to advance third class medical reform because there's a great deal of resistance inside and outside government to altering the current requirements.

Huerta is and has been on "our" side for a long time. But being FAA Administrator doesn't mean he's king of the world and can change anything.

Ihab

[vigilant104]

Wow...Congress gives GA pilots a gift -- against the wishes of some members AND the FAA itself -- and the carping begins. Celebrate the win, folks.

We don't know if we have a "win"--that won't be apparent until we see that regular MDs are willing to sign off on one of these questionnaires (and provide the >exam< as the regulation requires). If I were a partner in their practice, or if I were writing their liability insurance policies, I would definitely advise them against it. Most medical practitioners we would see as a part of our "regular" life are in the "diagnose and treat illness" business, and that's what their malpractice and general liability insurance covers. This FAA requirement isn't about treating illness. Also I don't think it will make a difference if the doctor knows the pilot or not, this is a business decision on their part. I wouldn't expect them to co-sign a loan for me or wash my car, either.

I hope I'm wrong and doctors will just sign these forms as a favor to their patients, or for a nominal fee. Let's see how that works out before we start doing handsprings about the big "win."

P.S. Congress didn't "give" anybody anything. They work for us. So does the FAA.

[Fastcapy]

The insurers are gonna cover it just fine, just as they do know -- because it's a legal FAA regulation. They insure LSA and Sport Pilots -- and a lot of people flying under BasicMed will be more experienced with more training...

To be seen. There are many instances where insurance requires much more than the regs. For example, lets say you get your tailwheel/complex/H.P. endorsement in 10hrs. Yet the insurance companies want you to have minimum of 25hrs in that kind of airplane before they will cover you. This happens all the time with insurance. Just because it is a law doesn't mean they have to cover you, especially since there still is a 3rd class option. Or they will simply raise the rates to unreasonable levels for those flying without a medical. Not saying it will happen, but to say it wouldn't isn't necessarily true.

And without Congress forcing the issue we'd have nothing...NOTHING...because some in the FAA refused to let medical reform move forward...in fact, the fact that we got so much more than the AOPA/EAA petition is partly because of the opponents in Congress who also didn't want to see it happen -- period.

As Ihab said, it was not the FAA, it was the DOT that had the hangup with it. The FAA sent it off to the DOT where it sat for a long time with no action.

As to Congress, I am not really sure how it came to be a left vs right matter, my guess is it was viewed by the democrats as a bill that only the rich cared about or that it was sponsored by a republican, but I know that when I emailed my congressional leaders and the responses from the republicans were for it and the responses from the democrats were more of a don't really care attitude. I was dumbfounded how this could become a partisan issue. House of Representatives vote had 33 yes votes and 141 no votes from democrats... (only one republican voted no to it in the house, 239 yes)

[Sonerai13]

As Ihab said, it was not the FAA, it was the DOT that had the hangup with it. The FAA sent it off to the DOT where it sat for a long time with no action.

This is nothing new. Many of us remember the initial push for the Recreational Pilot certificate many years ago. This was way before sport pilot, and would have obviated much of the need for sport pilot, IF it would have passed as it was originally proposed. As you may remember, the original proposal did not require an FAA medical certificate. (It did not require a driver's license either.) The FAA was on board with this, but the DOT stepped in and implemented the requirement for a 3rd Class Medical, which basically killed the value of the recreational certificate.

DOT lawyers also had a hand in complicating the sport pilot regulations. A lot of the things we tend to blame the FAA for are actually imposed upon them by the DOT (of which the FAA is part). They're from the government, and they're here to help!!

[n982sx]

For the person that asked.

The new rule specifically leaves all other medical rules, including for Sport Pilot, in place. This is simply a new option that can be used or ignored if you want.

I do see a new liability issue for doctors that will make many reluctant to sign. I actually think going to my current AME every four years for this sign off is a great option as the program kicks off. In the long term, doctors may become more willing to sign.

[WaiexN143NM]

Hi all,
I have to agree w dave waiex216, we need to celebrate this. Perfect? Maybe not, but a good step in the right direction. Lots of negative comments on avweb site. If you go for a basic med, and dont pass, lets say bp check, no failure is reported to faa. The doctor probably very willing to work with patient to pass and sign form. It may be that many general doctors decline to partipate, and ame's that have far more aviation knowledge and faa interaction already, may be the ones that will be issuing the basic med. i think we are lucky with what we got. It may evolve, but hey it may get more people back into flying, and overall better general health for the person. Move forward and moving on........
WaiexN143NM
Michael