Basic Med

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Bart4419

Filing Flight Plan
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Bart
I’m in my 70’s and want to switch to the basic Med. Does anyone have a list of Doctor’s in Southern California that do the basic med. Thanks.
 
I thought the thing about BasicMed is that your normal doctor could do it.
 
Baked Potato said:
I thought the thing about BasicMed is that your normal doctor could do it.
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You'd think that. My doc did it for me 4 years ago, but this year wouldn't. I found some guy I never talked to before willing to do it for $100. He did a great job asking me all the questions I'd already answered on the form and that my primary care would have known without asking.
 
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Salty said:
You'd think that. My doc did it for me 4 years ago, but this year wouldn't. I found some guy I never talked to before willing to do it for $100. He did a great job asking me all the questions I'd already answered on the form and that my primary care doc would have known without asking.
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Ok, weird. Did the doctor say why?
 
Baked Potato said:
Ok, weird. Did the doctor say why?
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Nope. It's complicated by the fact that my primary care is a physicians assistant, not a state licensed physician. She took it to the doc that she works for and he said he wouldn't do it. While my physicians assistant didn't change, the doc she works for did, and he wasn't comfortable doing it for whatever reason.
 
Salty said:
You'd think that. My doc did it for me 4 years ago, but this year wouldn't. I found some guy I never talked to before willing to do it for $100. He did a great job asking me all the questions I'd already answered on the form and that my primary care would have known without asking.
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OTOH, ain’t it good that with Basic Med you can just go find a different doc? Not like with a 3rd class where you’re facing a denial.
 
Baked Potato said:
I thought the thing about BasicMed is that your normal doctor could do it.
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A normal doctor can do it; not every doctor is willing to do it or may have insurance or other practice limitations that preclude them from doing it.

My current PCM treats BasicMed the same as a sports exam or dive exam and feels it’s entirely within scope of practice. My previous PCM was subject to a blanket prohibition by company policy from performing Basic Med exams.
 
one of the “pros” of BM was “who knows you better than your PCP?” sadly a lot of docs now are employees of hospitals, corporations, multi specialty groups and the administration sets the rules, perhaps they see it as increased liability, or maybe they’re too busy making money to think about it.

I do FAA exams and I’ll do BM for my pilots who are also my private patients. I don’t do BM on a pilot I’ve never seen or won’t see again. my pilots who have gone BM could still pass a C3, but the paperwork and reporting required to keep their SI in effect became very time consuming and expensive. they are still taking care of their health, and seeing their specialists, etc, but on their time schedule, not the FAAs.

I started flying under BM a few years ago, my own PCP is a PP and I’ve done his C3 for years, no charge. The AME I’ve seen for 30 years is up to $200 so now I trade off with my PCP. I do his C3 (or BM if he prefers) and he does my BM (since he’s not an AME).
 
craig d said:
my pilots who have gone BM could still pass a C3, but the paperwork and reporting required to keep their SI in effect became very time consuming and expensive. they are still taking care of their health, and seeing their specialists, etc, but on their time schedule, not the FAAs.
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Based on pilots I know personally, and based on POA postings and other forums, I suspect this is the most common Basic Med scenario. And it's why Basic Med seems to work well. FAA medicals do not provide treatment; only examination. They're a screen that passes 99+% of all applicants. There's no reason to think that an FAA medical should produce pilots who are any safer than the BM pilots you describe above.
 
Half Fast said:
Based on pilots I know personally, and based on POA postings and other forums, I suspect this is the most common Basic Med scenario. And it's why Basic Med seems to work well. FAA medicals do not provide treatment; only examination. They're a screen that passes 99+% of all applicants. There's no reason to think that an FAA medical should produce pilots who are any safer than the BM pilots you describe above.
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I am in that same boat. I asked my long time AME about BM, but he “doesn’t do BM.”
 
Fortunately, my PCP takes care of it as part of my annual wellness exam. We do it every two years rather than four; same month as the 2-year course.

if yours does, I think it's the best choice.
 
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