BasicMed Early Renewal

Jim Caufield

Jim Caufield

Filing Flight Plan
Joined
Jun 3, 2021
Messages
13
Location
Hillsboro, Oregon
Display Name
Display name:
CardinalDriver
I am coming up on the end of my 4-year BasicMed cycle in April of 2022. Due to all the excitement with COVID-19, appointments for routine physicals have been hard to get with my PCP. Fortunately, I was recently able to schedule one for early next month.

My question is: given how difficult it is to see my PCP, and not knowing what the medical landscape will look like in 2022 (COVID is currently on the rise in my state) I'm contemplating asking her to renew my BasicMed early. Can this be done? Would I be crazy to do it? I'm in good health and don't have any worries about her certifying me fit to fly.
 
Sure it can be done and it sounds like a good idea. Just get the exam, take the course and record it all and you’ll restart the clock at 4 years.
 
I did mine a couple of months early when my PCP signed off on the BasicMed exam during my annual physical exam. I don't see that I lost anything other than 1/24th of the value of the previous exam. Not very much.
 
Basic med exam is nothing more than a standard DOT physical without the drug/blood tests.

I got my last basic med exam at a local urgent care center that advertise DOT physicals. $70 total. No appointment.
 
My health insurance pays for an annual physical. I just bring the paperwork in at the same time.
 
Brad Z said:
My health insurance pays for an annual physical. I just bring the paperwork in at the same time.
Click to expand...

Ditto. The only potential rub for some is their PCP/PCM not willing to sign off on the paperwork. My Doc was OK with it (I brought her the AOPA Physicians BasicMed Info and explained it all to her beforehand) but I've heard of some whose Doc wouldn't sign off for a variety of reasons. In those instances the urgent care or similar clinic route is a viable option.
 
tsts4 said:
Ditto. The only potential rub for some is their PCP/PCM not willing to sign off on the paperwork. My Doc was OK with it (I brought her the AOPA Physicians BasicMed Info and explained it all to her beforehand) but I've heard of some whose Doc wouldn't sign off for a variety of reasons. In those instances the urgent care or similar clinic route is a viable option.
Click to expand...
I’m thankful my doc that I’ve seen for 10+ years didn’t bat an eye at it. I’m not sure I’d ditch her if she didn’t, but if I were shopping for a new PCP, BasicMed would be one of several decision factors.
 
pfarber said:
Basic med exam is nothing more than a standard DOT physical without the drug/blood tests.

I got my last basic med exam at a local urgent care center that advertise DOT physicals. $70 total. No appointment.
Click to expand...

I wish they'd have been smart enough to just say that...keep it simple. Just require a DOT for basic med + whatever online "quiz" they want to supplement it.....
Lots of docs know what that is, but basic med.... it's all so vague....My doc was very unsure about it, was trying to apply DOT physical standards and ideas to it but mostly just winging it looking through the "book" of pages for the form. It's really poorly implemented IMO.
 
tsts4 said:
Ditto. The only potential rub for some is their PCP/PCM not willing to sign off on the paperwork. My Doc was OK with it (I brought her the AOPA Physicians BasicMed Info and explained it all to her beforehand) but I've heard of some whose Doc wouldn't sign off for a variety of reasons. In those instances the urgent care or similar clinic route is a viable option.
Click to expand...

That's the problem.. your doctor not understanding and refusing to do something that is really nothing more than a high school sports physical. But mention FAA/DOT and they may bolt.

An urgent care clinic probably does 10 DOT physicals a day and will not jerk you around.
 
Let my BasicMed expire by a few months do to an injury. Scheduled a physical and gave the doctor the paperwork. No problem she sighed me off. Took the course the same day and passed.

Now I'm waiting for a FR. Scheduling the CFI and weather has me waiting to get that done. Unfortunately My CFI thinks we will need to make 2 or 3 flights to get FR done. He is teaching me landing with mono vision, so far it has gone well. Depth perception is off due to loss of vision.

Sorry for the ramble, schedule your physical best suited to your free time.
 
172andyou said:
What the hell is an "annual physical"?
Click to expand...

I know this is a surprise to sone folks, but real health insurance pays for an annual preventative visit with your primary care doctor and includes the routine blood tests. If you carry catastrophic insurance, a preventative visit is not included.
 
Clip4 said:
I know this is a surprise to sone folks, but real health insurance pays for an annual preventative visit with your primary care doctor and includes the routine blood tests. If you carry catastrophic insurance, a preventative visit is not included.
Click to expand...

The ACA mandated that all insurance cover wellness and preventative care. So by law, ALL health insurance covers annual checkups. But the sneaky truth is that a doctor can code the bill as just about anything else and trigger a bill not covered. Plus you still need a co-pay as very few plans are 100% coverage.

Its also why a bronze plan is 'only' $3 a month but penalizes you with $8700 with out of pocket expenses before the insurance kicks in.

I would not use a doctor that wasn't doing DOT exams daily. They know the deal and can get you through it with minimum fuss.
 
pfarber said:
That's the problem.. your doctor not understanding and refusing to do something that is really nothing more than a high school sports physical. But mention FAA/DOT and they may bolt.

An urgent care clinic probably does 10 DOT physicals a day and will not jerk you around.
Click to expand...

Sigh. As I said, it’s an option if your PCM won’t do it. If they won’t it’s no big deal as you stated. But there’s absolutely no reason not to see your PCM first when a lot of them will do it and the physical is already paid for by insurance. Granted $70 isn’t that much but it’s a tank of gas for my truck these days so I’d rather buy gas then a physical that’s already paid for.
 
pfarber said:
The ACA mandated that all insurance cover wellness and preventative care. So by law, ALL health insurance covers annual checkups. But the sneaky truth is that a doctor can code the bill as just about anything else and trigger a bill not covered. Plus you still need a co-pay as very few plans are 100% coverage.

Its also why a bronze plan is 'only' $3 a month but penalizes you with $8700 with out of pocket expenses before the insurance kicks in.

I would not use a doctor that wasn't doing DOT exams daily. They know the deal and can get you through it with minimum fuss.
Click to expand...

You ever heard of calling the billing department and refusing to pay due to improper coding? They will send it back to the doctor and get it corrected.


Less than 15% of insured will be grandfathered plans left that required a payment for preventative care for 2022.
 
Last edited:
pfarber said:
The ACA mandated that all insurance cover wellness and preventative care. So by law, ALL health insurance covers annual checkups. But the sneaky truth is that a doctor can code the bill as just about anything else and trigger a bill not covered. Plus you still need a co-pay as very few plans are 100% coverage.

Its also why a bronze plan is 'only' $3 a month but penalizes you with $8700 with out of pocket expenses before the insurance kicks in.

I would not use a doctor that wasn't doing DOT exams daily. They know the deal and can get you through it with minimum fuss.
Click to expand...
Where do you find a bronze plane for only $3 per month? Or even $100 a month?
 
Matthew Rogers said:
Where do you find a bronze plane for only $3 per month? Or even $100 a month?
Click to expand...

If you and your spouse are age 50 with 6 children underage 18 and an income of $75k, a bronze plan is free. If you are a full time CFI in this demographic you can still fly.
 
I called my doctor's office earlier this year to schedule my BasicMed exam (repeat of 4 years ago) and was told that he didn't do them. I told her to check as he had done mine 4 years earlier. She called back and we scheduled the exam. He does DOT physicals, so this wasn't an issue for him. I'll do mine early next time so I can schedule it concurrently with my regular annual physical, saving a pair of trips to the doctor's office (one to see the vampire, one to see the doctor).
 
Yep, my doctor has no problem signing it off each year so I do it. He says the only thing additional he does is a rudimentary hearing test over what he would do anyhow.
 
I didn't "schedule" a basicmed exam, I just took the papers to my doc when I went for a regular checkup and he checked all the checkboxes and signed it. It may have helped that one of his other patients is a senior AME, the one who did my last medical.
 
My doctor took a look at the FAA's recommended reading list in the instructions and decided he didn't have time to inform himself sufficiently to sign the attestation. Fortunately, the AME I had previously used is willing to do it.
 
Jim Caufield said:
I am coming up on the end of my 4-year BasicMed cycle in April of 2022. Due to all the excitement with COVID-19, appointments for routine physicals have been hard to get with my PCP. Fortunately, I was recently able to schedule one for early next month.

My question is: given how difficult it is to see my PCP, and not knowing what the medical landscape will look like in 2022 (COVID is currently on the rise in my state) I'm contemplating asking her to renew my BasicMed early. Can this be done? Would I be crazy to do it? I'm in good health and don't have any worries about her certifying me fit to fly.
Click to expand...
I renew mine every year at my annual physical. FAA site says it works
 
Matthew Rogers said:
Where do you find a bronze plane for only $3 per month? Or even $100 a month?
Click to expand...

If I can get a plane for only $3 month, I don't care what color it is. Bronze, or even bright pink is fine. Sorry, I couldn't resist;)
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top