On the forum, I’ve seen minimal gouge on the process to return to flying status mid-flight school… especially when medical treatment was done in the civilian world..... So I thought I'd write out some tid bits of gouge on Tricare/Nami/Civi medicine......
Shortly after showing up for advance, I went med down for a rather lengthy stretch of time. I was sent home on med TAD to be treated in civilian hospitals where I received a multitude of care such as scans, treatments, consults and surgeries. Fortunately, I made a full recovery and returned to flying with a hefty waiver.
TLDR of this entire post: Vouch for yourself.
Flight Docs
Overall, my experience with the flight docs was positive. I made it clear that I had no intentions of DORing and would wait to see if a waiver was possible. The doctor backed me up wholeheartedly with the command, writing me waivers and getting appointments as needed. My main advice is to be blunt and clear with your needs. On multiple occasions, I did need to push military medicine to get anything done.
Med TAD
How/why one is granted Med TAD is highly circumstantial. Mine was granted due to the nature of my condition. When I ended up needing extensions post-op, the wing put in the requests. I know two other SNAs who were cut TAD orders post-surgery, awaiting waiver eligibility. Work with your command and just ask.
Case Managers
These are the angels of military medicine. Case managers can be assigned for various reasons, such as medical needs outside a set radius, complex medicine or a case needing more attention for referral approvals. Mine got in contact with me shortly after my initial specialist referral was put in. I would highly recommend staying on their good side.
In-Network Doctors
With few exceptions, Humana Military (Tricare) will not cover out-of-network care if an in-network provider in the area. I found it easiest to look through the Humana military’s online provider directory, then tell my case manager who I wanted to see. This got me appointments sooner and closer as I did the research.
Referrals
A referral is a doctor asking the insurance company if they will pay for something. The humana military portal has all your pending and approved referrals. As almost everything needs a referral for active duty, most doctor’s offices groaned seeing Tricare. Keep track of your referrals as you cannot see a doctor, get a scan or procedure done until it is fully approved.
Waivers
The timeline of waivers varies on a case-by-case basis. Not all waivers will require you to remain down indefinitely. If they can, you’ll be given a “temporary waiver” which allows you to return to flight status while NAMI is pending. "Generally", I was told a standard NAMI waiver for an AD aviator takes 6-8 weeks once the completed package is put in. They also have the option to submit a waiver expedited for quicker turnaround.
Getting shit done medically
Vouch for yourself. Civilian doctors have zero understanding of the needs of service members or what our medicals look like. While civilian medicine is generally higher quality, I had multiple run-ins with docs where they disregarded everything that came out of my mouth that I needed uniquely as a naval aviator. The good news is, there are plenty more doctors in network.
Return to flying
While my waiver was processing, I was diligent and consistently communicating with my command that I wanted to start up training asap. Training/command climate dependent, a return to training plan was created, I had an HFB and a lot of pre-studying was done on my part to get back up to speed.
I’m not going to lie, getting back in a flying headspace after an extended time down was mentally and emotionally challenging. However, I can adamantly say that my first time back in a cockpit, I was laughing and smiling as if I had never left. The more I spoke about it with my instructors, I learned of other "weird NAMI waivers" and that its not uncommon to go med down for an extended period at some point in one's career.
________________________________
I wish all good health, and I hope this post can help clarify some of the more unique unknowns of meddown/med TAD and waivers mid flight school.
I've been med-up for a bit now and had sat on finishing this post for a while. But I am happy to say I am in full health and my return to training/advance has been overwhelmingly positive.
~Mouse
Shortly after showing up for advance, I went med down for a rather lengthy stretch of time. I was sent home on med TAD to be treated in civilian hospitals where I received a multitude of care such as scans, treatments, consults and surgeries. Fortunately, I made a full recovery and returned to flying with a hefty waiver.
TLDR of this entire post: Vouch for yourself.
Flight Docs
Overall, my experience with the flight docs was positive. I made it clear that I had no intentions of DORing and would wait to see if a waiver was possible. The doctor backed me up wholeheartedly with the command, writing me waivers and getting appointments as needed. My main advice is to be blunt and clear with your needs. On multiple occasions, I did need to push military medicine to get anything done.
Med TAD
How/why one is granted Med TAD is highly circumstantial. Mine was granted due to the nature of my condition. When I ended up needing extensions post-op, the wing put in the requests. I know two other SNAs who were cut TAD orders post-surgery, awaiting waiver eligibility. Work with your command and just ask.
Case Managers
These are the angels of military medicine. Case managers can be assigned for various reasons, such as medical needs outside a set radius, complex medicine or a case needing more attention for referral approvals. Mine got in contact with me shortly after my initial specialist referral was put in. I would highly recommend staying on their good side.
In-Network Doctors
With few exceptions, Humana Military (Tricare) will not cover out-of-network care if an in-network provider in the area. I found it easiest to look through the Humana military’s online provider directory, then tell my case manager who I wanted to see. This got me appointments sooner and closer as I did the research.
Referrals
A referral is a doctor asking the insurance company if they will pay for something. The humana military portal has all your pending and approved referrals. As almost everything needs a referral for active duty, most doctor’s offices groaned seeing Tricare. Keep track of your referrals as you cannot see a doctor, get a scan or procedure done until it is fully approved.
Waivers
The timeline of waivers varies on a case-by-case basis. Not all waivers will require you to remain down indefinitely. If they can, you’ll be given a “temporary waiver” which allows you to return to flight status while NAMI is pending. "Generally", I was told a standard NAMI waiver for an AD aviator takes 6-8 weeks once the completed package is put in. They also have the option to submit a waiver expedited for quicker turnaround.
Getting shit done medically
Vouch for yourself. Civilian doctors have zero understanding of the needs of service members or what our medicals look like. While civilian medicine is generally higher quality, I had multiple run-ins with docs where they disregarded everything that came out of my mouth that I needed uniquely as a naval aviator. The good news is, there are plenty more doctors in network.
Return to flying
While my waiver was processing, I was diligent and consistently communicating with my command that I wanted to start up training asap. Training/command climate dependent, a return to training plan was created, I had an HFB and a lot of pre-studying was done on my part to get back up to speed.
I’m not going to lie, getting back in a flying headspace after an extended time down was mentally and emotionally challenging. However, I can adamantly say that my first time back in a cockpit, I was laughing and smiling as if I had never left. The more I spoke about it with my instructors, I learned of other "weird NAMI waivers" and that its not uncommon to go med down for an extended period at some point in one's career.
________________________________
I wish all good health, and I hope this post can help clarify some of the more unique unknowns of meddown/med TAD and waivers mid flight school.
I've been med-up for a bit now and had sat on finishing this post for a while. But I am happy to say I am in full health and my return to training/advance has been overwhelmingly positive.
~Mouse
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