3rd Class Medical Reform, Special Issuances, and exams

labbadabba

labbadabba

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labbadabba
Okay, it's 2017 so I guess with the PBOR2 it's time to simplify the process. But I can't quite unsimplify it...

So, I have a SI for Sleep Apnea have the CPAP and the works and have had no issues with compliance once I get the SI issued. But because of the SI my dates for medical compliance are whacky:

SI: Good thru 2020
3rd Class: Good thru 2021
Certificate: Good thru Feb 2017

This is what I don't get. My medical and my SI are good for a number of years, but on my medical it says that it's valid for only a year. I went to my AME last year and he said I didn't need a physical even tho it says my Med Certificate expiry date was up.

So here's my question: With the new reforms, I don't need to see an AME, all I need is my treating physician to look at my compliance reports, ask some perfunctory questions about daytime sleepiness, etc., and then I just send that into white coats in OKC?

I know my normal physical has balked at signing anything related to my aviation stuff saying he's not qualified as a AME. I get it, it's total CYA but that may be an issue when I go in for my next exam.
 
The reforms have not gone into effect yet. I believe the FAA has until July to announce the guidelines (1 year). If you expire in February, you will either need to wait until the FAA releases that or you will need to visit your AME.
 
what reform ,my guess is you will want what you had last medical
 
labbadabba said:
Okay, it's 2017 so I guess with the PBOR2 it's time to simplify the process. But I can't quite unsimplify it...

So, I have a SI for Sleep Apnea have the CPAP and the works and have had no issues with compliance once I get the SI issued. But because of the SI my dates for medical compliance are whacky:

SI: Good thru 2020
3rd Class: Good thru 2021
Certificate: Good thru Feb 2017

This is what I don't get. My medical and my SI are good for a number of years, but on my medical it says that it's valid for only a year. I went to my AME last year and he said I didn't need a physical even tho it says my Med Certificate expiry date was up.

So here's my question: With the new reforms, I don't need to see an AME, all I need is my treating physician to look at my compliance reports, ask some perfunctory questions about daytime sleepiness, etc., and then I just send that into white coats in OKC?

I know my normal physical has balked at signing anything related to my aviation stuff saying he's not qualified as a AME. I get it, it's total CYA but that may be an issue when I go in for my next exam.
Click to expand...

I'm not sure how the PBOR is going to work, but here's how that SI works until then:

>>>
This is what I don't get. My medical and my SI are good for a number of years, but on my medical it says that it's valid for only a year. I went to my AME last year and he said I didn't need a physical even tho it says my Med Certificate expiry date was up.
<<<

Your medical and your SI are tied together, but not the same thing. For your medical to be valid, you need a current SI. You get the exam on your normal class III schedule (2021), but you need to keep your SI current (Feb 17). When you renew that SI, you get another medical that says it's good for another year (Feb 18). Eventually you will get to 2021 and renew the SI and get your Class III at the same time. In 2020, FAA will give you another 6 years on a fresh SI that will have to be renewed annually.

Short version: Renew the SI annually, but get the class III exam only when it rolls around on your normal schedule. The date on your medical will always show "not valid after (1 year from last SI renew)".
 
Thanks for the above. My Special Issuance states: "This authorization expires: May 31st, 2019." Under the limitations on my medical it states, "Not valid for any class after 3/31/2017." According to my AME, my physical is still valid for another 4 years but my medical cert needs to be re-upped and he says any treating physician can sign off on this.

So basically, I just need my treating physician to write a letter and I send it to OKC with my PI number referenced within?

My normal physical has balked at this somewhat.
 
labbadabba said:
Thanks for the above. My Special Issuance states: "This authorization expires: May 31st, 2019." Under the limitations on my medical it states, "Not valid for any class after 3/31/2017." According to my AME, my physical is still valid for another 4 years but my medical cert needs to be re-upped and he says any treating physician can sign off on this.

So basically, I just need my treating physician to write a letter and I send it to OKC with my PI number referenced within?

My normal physical has balked at this somewhat.
Click to expand...

Are you talking about renewing under current rules or PBOR?

Current rules -You need a report from your treating physician that you are being treated, OSA is under control, and compliant. You need reports from your CPAP showing that. What your AME *might* be saying, is that your own doc needs to generate that letter and one of you needs to generate that report. You can mail that to OKC on your own and OKC will send back a fresh Class III with a new date on it. Or, your AME can take the paperwork and issue you a refreshed Class III in his office. The difference will be you wait on OKC turnaround, or you pay the AME for an office visit.

(PM me if you want - been doing this runaround for many years.)

edit: I forgot to note - May 31, 2019 seems to be the date your SI expires. There are two different expiration dates for an SI. One is the issuance itself, generally 6 years for OSA. The other is the annual renewal to keep it current. Getting it renewed each year involves your status reports and either AME or OKC contact. Getting the SI itself renewed in 2019 will be dealt with by OKC. The last couple times my 6 year has renewed, FAA simply sent me a new issuance letter along with my class III after my 6th annual renewal.
 
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John221us said:
The reforms have not gone into effect yet. I believe the FAA has until July to announce the guidelines (1 year). If you expire in February, you will either need to wait until the FAA releases that or you will need to visit your AME.
Click to expand...

FWIW, they have until Jan 16th, 2017 (12 more days) to announce the new rules. If they fail (my guess is they will), the old (current) rules can still be enforced only until July 16th, 2017 as long as you make a good faith effort to comply with the law.
 
labbadabba said:
So, I have a SI for Sleep Apnea have the CPAP and the works and have had no issues with compliance once I get the SI issued. But because of the SI my dates for medical compliance are whacky:

SI: Good thru 2020
3rd Class: Good thru 2021
Certificate: Good thru Feb 2017
Click to expand...
So what's really going on here is you now have two requriements to fill under the current system:
(1) Flight physicals every two years.
(2) Documentation as to the effectively of CPAP each year.

Any issuance will be to the shorter of "what's left of the 2 years on the underlying flight physical, vs one year from your dcouments as to the effectiveness of your CPAP.

The 2021 number just sez the AME can issue you each of the interim certificates w/o FAA approval through Feb 2021 (until they say otherwise).
What they want for (2) is your Graphic CPAP use report- I've pinned one to this post , done by an airman with sleepyhead software ( https://sourceforge.net/projects/sleepyhead/ ) and his chip download, and the letter from the PCP or Sleep doc saying, (a) Complies with CPAP (2) No complaint of daytime sleepiness, (#) appears well rested, and (4) no stigmata of right heart failure on physical exam. If you have a modern Wifi machine and have signed up, you can print it off the Resemd website. They want the whole year but have recently accepted 90 days if your margins above 75% of days showing >6 hours use, is pretty good.

That's all you need this Feb, and your AME can HAND YOU a certificate without a flight physical, good to 2/2018 based on your 2/2016 flight physical.
 

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FYI @Matthew ... ordered a Dream Machine. Once again, I blame you for getting a good nights sleep and logging FAA required data.
 
labbadabba said:
is that this? http://www.cpap.com/productpage/pr-dreamstation-auto-cpap-machine.html
Click to expand...
That's the one. But Matthew and I patronize www.cpap-supply.com. Drew (owner) is a pilot and understands FAA reg requirements.

One of the features of this one is it writes data to an SD card which then can be put into your PC to run the Sleepyhead reporting software.

The current SI says you need to present 1 year of compliance data when you submit for renewal (prior was 90 days). The unit I had been using (DeVillbis IntelliPap) is still going strong, but only provided access to 90 days of info. So if you forget to grab the codes to generate the report (which I always did), you would have gaps in your compliance data.

Per Matthew's PIREP, this doesn't happen with the Dreamstation.
 
I'm a long time happy customer of cpap-supply as well. My ResMed Airsense S9 is maybe a little bigger than the DreamStation, but when I add my humidifier, mine doubles in size. I may have to check out the DreamStation, especially for ease of travel as well as it says it comes with a 12VDC cord for the RV.
 
gkainz said:
I'm a long time happy customer of cpap-supply as well. My ResMed Airsense S9 is maybe a little bigger than the DreamStation, but when I add my humidifier, mine doubles in size. I may have to check out the DreamStation, especially for ease of travel as well as it says it comes with a 12VDC cord for the RV.
Click to expand...

Power supply is a brick: 100-240V AC 50/60HZ in, 12 VDC out. I don't have the current requirements handy, though.
 
gkainz said:
especially for ease of travel as well as it says it comes with a 12VDC cord for the RV.
Click to expand...

Took me a second that you were referring to a land-based RV. I was trying to think why anyone would fly their RV with their CPAP on unless to drive up compliance numbers...
 
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