What is the willingness of non-AME/pilot physicians to perform BasicMed exams?
I have Kaiser insurance and tried really hard to get them to conduct my physical, to no avail. I was thwarted by some degree by the fact that my regular physician is not seeing patients right now, but my suspicion is that she may not have done it either. However, I have also heard of Kaiser members who did convince their physicians, so apparently there is some wiggle room. I ended up going to a clinic that does the DOT exam after asking if they would also do basic med - the doc turned out to be a pilot himself. Saved just a few buck compared to an AME.

As to why some folks would do basic med rather than a third class, at a certain age the third class is only good for a couple of years, while the basic med exam is good for five. That's why I elected to go with Basic Med. (I read recently that BM won't allow flight outside of the US, including Mexico or Canada, so that's something to keep in mind if you fly in those areas...)