Reporting Disability Compensation
By Dr. Susan Northrup, FAA Federal Air Surgeon
Recently, there has been a lot of discussion in many different forums regarding the FAA and pilots who receive disability compensation, especially from the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA). Some pilots are concerned that a high disability rating can jeopardize medical certification. This is not true. Our determination is based on the condition and treatment, not the amount of compensation. While the likelihood of a significant medical issue does increase with a higher rating, the correlation is not as strong as you might think. In fact, we have pilots who have a 100% disability rating from the VA, yet qualify for a Class I or II medical. On the other hand, some conditions, such as a seizure disorder, can have a rating from the VA, as low as 10%, yet not be safe for flight. For this reason, even a 0% disability rating should be reported. I want to emphasize though that we consider each pilot individually with the goal of issuing a medical when it is safe to do so.
I would like to address the responsibility that we pilots have for reporting disability compensation on the FAA medical application (FAA Form 8500–8). I would also like to remind you that you need to report any form of disability benefit, including from a private insurer, workers’ compensation, or Social Security disability.
Pilots need to report any form of disability benefit on their medical, including that from a private insurer, workman’s compensation, or the Social Security Administration.
Question 18y, Medical Disability Benefits, is answered incorrectly by many pilots. The purpose of providing medical history on the 8500–8 form through MedXPress is to identify areas of potential aeromedical concern and to ensure adequate and aeromedically acceptable mitigation. Sometimes these concerns can be addressed by the aviation medical examiner (AME) while you are in the office, and you leave with your medical in hand; other times additional information and testing might be necessary to ensure aviation safety. This is just as true for a history of medical disability benefits as any medical condition.
Why are we concerned about pilots receiving medical disability? The short answer is that even though pilots should annotate their medical conditions in other parts of question 18, they may not believe that an underlying medical condition or treatment falls within another question on FAA form 8500–8. Additionally, question 18y can serve as a helpful reminder of medical conditions that the applicant did not think about when answering other parts of question 18. Remember that our goal is to ensure the safety of the national airspace system. This question helps us ensure that all underlying medical conditions are disclosed, adequately controlled (or resolved), and that the treatment is aeromedically acceptable.
For those of you who have been granted disability compensation since your last medical application, I recommend that you gather the paperwork you have for that disability compensation and bring it with you to show your AME at your next FAA medical examination. If it’s a VA disability, bring the VA decision letter(s). Consider making an appointment with your AME prior to the examination to review the information for completeness. For those of you who have been granted disability compensation prior to your last FAA medical but did not report it, I recommend that you provide this to the FAA now even if you are not due for an examination. Your AME can help with this. Make sure that you bring copies of all the disability evaluations, not just the most recent ones. This will expedite your review.
Should your disability compensation change, you will also need to report this. Generally, you will do so at the time of your next medical application. Second, independent of any reporting requirements, remember your obligations under 14 CFR section 61.53. The bottom line is that question 18y is like any other question about medical history. We simply want to ensure that the underlying condition is well-controlled and that the treatment is aeromedically acceptable.
Dr. Susan Northrup received a bachelor’s degree in chemistry, a medical degree from The Ohio State University, and a master’s degree in public health from the University of Texas. She is double board-certified by the American Board of Preventive Medicine in Aerospace Medicine and Occupational Medicine. She is a retired U.S. Air Force colonel and a former regional medical director for Delta Air Lines. She is also an active private pilot.
