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Supposedly, in 2016, Congress passed a new law making it easier to fly without the usual medical examination requirements. However, in looking at one of the rather obtuse "FAQs" on this new law, I don't really see what has changed. You still have to have had a medical exam, so new pilots apparently get no benefit whatsoever, they still have to be examined by a doctor. Not only that pilots still have to pass a medical exam at least every 4 years as far as I could tell. So, after years and years of lobbying for a medical-free third class, is the end result that now pilots only have to have an exam every 4 years instead of every 2? Here is an excerpt for the proposed law as I originally saw it:

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Fly with drivers license. Did this not happen?

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Short answer: politics killed the "driver's license medical" idea for private pilots, but there are still reasons why BasicMed has significant advantages for some pilots.


The literal answer to your question is "nothing": the third-class medical hasn't changed at all. What you're referring to is an additional option called BasicMed, which you can hold instead of (for some operations) or even in addition to a third-class medical.

I won't get into the details of BasicMed itself (the regulations are in 14 CFR 68), but AOPA has a lot of great information about it. Instead, I'll focus on your "why is this any better than a third-class medical?" question, which seems to be quite a common one right now.

In summary, if you're under 40 and healthy then BasicMed may not seem very interesting. But if you're over 40 and especially if you currently have a Special Issuance then BasicMed could be a much easier and cheaper way to fly.

As you said, as a new pilot you still have to pass a third-class medical once so let's assume that you've done that successfully. It's certainly true that some people aren't happy with that requirement because they were hoping for a "driver's license medical" where a private pilot could fly without any medical certificate, as sport pilots can do. That idea didn't survive the political process, however. If you want to fly without any medical you still have gliders, ultralights or LSAs.

But when it comes time to renew, here are some reasons that you might consider BasicMed (most of this information comes from the AOPA FAQs):

  • If you're over 40, you need to renew a third-class medical every two years, but you only need to see a doctor every 4 years under BasicMed
  • Special Issuances still exist under BasicMed but for a more limited number of conditions than for a regular medical. Practically, that means you may be able to avoid expensive tests that the FAA requires for a third-class. This is a huge benefit for some pilots because it can save a lot of time and money (health insurance typically doesn't cover 'unnecessary' tests).
  • Any state-licensed physician can sign off on BasicMed, but only an AME can sign off an FAA medical. That means in theory it should be easier and cheaper to find a doctor for BasicMed. In practice people's experiences have been mixed on this, but BasicMed is still very new and it's not surprising that some doctors may not be comfortable with it.
  • Because the BasicMed medical questionnaire is effectively a general physical exam, some people have successfully combined it with an annual checkup paid for by their health insurance

There may be other reasons, but those are some common ones I've read about. If you're a member, the AOPA forums have a lot of discussions about individual experiences.

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    $\begingroup$ Please see my edit for excerpt from the law. $\endgroup$ Aug 12, 2017 at 14:31
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    $\begingroup$ @TylerDurden A link to the source for that text would be great, but I assume it's an early proposal or draft. The "driver's license medical" idea was killed by politics; I've linked to a good article about it in my answer. $\endgroup$
    – Pondlife
    Aug 12, 2017 at 16:52

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