Changes on your application for a medical certificate will lead to more information collected by your AME that can be shared with other federal agencies, all with the blessing of changes made to the Privacy Act Statement covering the application, according to AOPA. The information sharing is intended to provide other federal agencies with access to your responses for the purpose of checking the accuracy and completeness of other information available to those agencies. For example, pilots seeking a medical from their doctor will respond to a new question that inquires about whether or not they receive medical disability benefits, and other agencies may use that information to help discover Social Security fraud.
Other changes on the form consist mainly of modification to the language in an effort to make the wording more accurately reflect the methods of testing involved. The changes can be tacked onto recent requirements for pilots to disclose arrests (not just convictions) involving alcohol-related driving offenses. The modifications are largely a consequence of fraud investigations and AOPA states that the new forms are arriving at your AME’s office.
