FMCSA to allow truckers to use V.A. docs for medical certification

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The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration is proposing an easier path for V.A. physicians to become certified medical examiners and listed on the National Registry, which would allow more military veteran truckers to use their V.A. doctors for medical exams.The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration is proposing an easier path for V.A. physicians to become certified medical examiners and listed on the National Registry, which would allow more military veteran truckers to use their V.A. doctors for medical exams.

A proposed rule set to be published in the Federal Register Thursday, Dec. 1, would allow some military veteran truck drivers to use their V.A. doctors for their federally required medical exams.

The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration’s proposed rule would make it easier for Department of Veterans Affairs physicians to become Certified Medical Examiners and be listed on the agency’s National Registry of Certified Medical Examiners.

After completing FMCSA-administered training and testing, the V.A. doctors would be listed on the National Registry without having to go through a third-party tester. Military veteran truckers enrolled in the V.A. health care system would then be the only drivers the V.A. physicians would be allowed to conduct medical exams on and issue Medical Examiner’s Certificates to.

The FAST Act highway bill directed the agency to allow V.A. doctors to be listed on the National Registry and laid out certain guidelines the physicians must meet. The FAST Act stated V.A. doctors must be employed in the Department of Veterans Affairs, be familiar with FMCSA’s standards for truck drivers and have never “acted fraudulently” when it comes to administering medical certs for commercial drivers. The proposed rule says the physicians must be either a doctor of medicine or a doctor of osteopathy employed by the V.A.

The training for the doctors would be delivered through a web-based system operated by the V.A. FMCSA says the training “would be an intensive, online training course” and include an overview of FMCSA medical standards, an overview of how the federal medical exemption programs factor into the qualification decision, an administrative component with an overview of driver exam forms and information regarding the use of the National Registry and the National Registry System. After completing the training, the doctors would be tested on it and must receive a passing grade to become a certified medical examiner on the National Registry.

In addition to providing an easier path to the National Registry for V.A. physicians, FMCSA also proposed a couple of minor changes to the certification requirements for all medical examiners.

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First, the agency proposes to add a requirement that a doctor must first register on the National Registry System and receive a unique ID before being allowed to take any of the training or testing to become a certified medical examiner. FMCSA says this has always been the way the system has worked, but it wasn’t included in the language of the regulation.

FMCSA also proposes in the rule to remove the prohibition against taking the test more than once every 30 days. FMCSA says there are no actions that must be taken in the 30-day period, such as additional training, so there is no need for the waiting period.

FMCSA is seeking comment on the proposed rule, which can be done by searching Docket No. FMCSA-2016-0333 at www.regulations.gov. The full text of the 43-page proposed rule can be seen here.

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