Allsup Did All Of The Work For Me

Obtaining Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) can be a time-consuming and stressful experience. Two out of every three applicants initially are denied. After years of suffering from chronic bronchitis, pneumonia and a hacking cough so severe it brought her to her knees, Andrea Reiss realized that her battle with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) would not improve. So she applied for her disability benefits, but discovered that it was easier said than done. After several failed attempts, she enlisted the help of Allsup. Read why Mrs. Reiss put Allsup in charge.

 

 

Woodbridge, Virginia—The daughter of a U.S. soldier and a British subject, Andrea Reiss first came to America at age 17. She went back and forth a couple of times before returning to England for the better part of a decade.

 

After graduating from high school, she worked for the General Post Office, essentially Britain’s phone company.

 

Her last trip to the United States was permanent. She emigrated in 1978, at age 27, settling in Philadelphia near her once-distant siblings. She married a year later and soon started raising a family.

 

As her son neared pre-school age, Mrs. Reiss took a part-time job managing the condominium building she lived in with her family. She kept the books, collected money and hired contractors to fix maintenance issues.

 

Then in 1991, her husband died. Mrs. Reiss and her son moved to Virginia to get out of the city and be near her sister. She eventually took a part-time office job at a large accounting firm.

 

In the background lurked constant illness. Mrs. Reis had started smoking as an 11-year-old in Britain. Recurring bouts of bronchitis would wrack her body, triggering coughing fits so powerful she would almost lose control of bodily functions.

 

She would quit smoking long enough for the bronchitis to subside and then pick up the habit again.

 

“Every year I was getting this bronchitis that almost kills you,” she said. “I get up to do anything and I sound like I ran a marathon.”

 

In 1996, after years of suffering, she sought help from a physician, who promptly decided to examine her lungs. Chest X-rays were negative. Then he suggested a test for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), a group of lung diseases that block airflow and stifle breathing.

 

Chronic bronchitis is one of the major conditions that comprise COPD, which typically is caused by long-term smoking.

 

Mrs. Reiss, now 59, had never heard of the disease. She was soon diagnosed with COPD and told to quit smoking immediately.

 

But she didn’t. Instead, Mrs. Reiss settled into a new job as a bookkeeper and spent the next five years suffering through the same cycle of cigarettes and sickness.

 

She finally quit smoking for good in 2001 after a bronchitis-induced coughing attack brought her to her knees. “It got to the point where I couldn’t breathe,” Mrs. Reiss said. “I was doing one of those praying things — ‘God, please don’t let me die. I won’t smoke another cigarette.’ I never touched one again.”

 

The next few years were difficult. She was tired all the time and gained weight after kicking the nicotine addiction. There were a couple bouts of pneumonia and plenty of absences from work. She ultimately sold her three-story townhouse after the stairs proved too laborious.

 

During the summer of 2006, Mrs. Reiss took a trip back to England. She was laid off upon her return home.

 

With her health in continued decline, Mrs. Reiss figured another job hunt would be fruitless. She decided to apply for Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI), a federal insurance program overseen by the Social Security Administration (SSA). SSDI provides monthly disability benefits to people who are under full retirement age (age 65 or older) and who can no longer work because of a disability.

 

In January 2007, as her unemployment benefits expired, Mrs. Reiss contacted her local Social Security office to start the process. She sent in the requisite paperwork and was quickly rejected.

 

She appealed the decision and was sent to a physician provided by the agency. As before, a chest X-ray was negative. Mrs. Reiss told the doctor she couldn’t walk very far. He asked her to walk a few steps, which she did without issue.

 

Months later, the SSA rejected her appeal.

 

Desperately in need of income, Mrs. Reiss searched online for help. She found the website for Allsup, the nation’s leading SSDI representation company. Founded in 1984, the Illinois-based firm has helped more than 150,000 people receive their SSDI benefits.

 

Allsup took her case in July 2007. Mrs. Reiss provided Allsup claims experts with her pertinent medical information. She visited another physician and went through another battery of tests.

 

Her Allsup representative put together an exhaustive disability appeal to an administrative law judge. In the fall of 2008, after months of waiting, Mrs. Reiss received word that her SSDI benefits had been awarded.

 

She could finally breathe a bit easier.

 

“If you want it right away, go through [Allsup],” Mrs. Reiss said. “They did all the work for me, and I didn’t have to bother with anything.”