Hepatitis C Sufferer Gives Allsup an A for Awesome

Obtaining Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) can be a time-consuming and stressful experience. Two out of every three applicants initially are denied. With a long road ahead of her health-wise, Leslie Mikesell retired on her doctor’s recommendation at the young age of 42. Ms. Mikesell was blindsided by a diagnosis of hepatitis C. Further complicating her situation was the severe anemia that development as a result of her treatment. She shares her experience below.

 

 

 

 

 

Bonita Springs, Florida—Leslie Mikesell had been in fairly good health. She had back problems since she was 20, but they were manageable. Meanwhile, she built a career in the debt collection business starting in 1994.

 

Ten years later she moved to Bonita Springs as a collection agency trainer, carrying the title of assistant vice president of talent management. Essentially, she taught workers how to be compassionate on the phone as they tried to collect on delinquencies.

 

All continued well until the spring of 2005. “I started to have the flu all the time and was very fatigued,” she said. Her doctor referred her to a rheumatologist who tested Ms. Mikesell for hepatitis in November 2005. The tests came back positive for hepatitis C.

 

“The diagnosis was devastating,” she said. “I wasn’t a high risk. I didn’t do drugs.”

 

Going through her medical history, the doctor said the patient might have contracted hepatitis from blood transfusions after an accident in 1986. The gastroenterologist prescribed a course of interferon to combat the hepatitis.

 

“I had a really bad time with the treatment and developed severe anemia, but continued treatment for six months,” said Ms. Mikesell, who took family medical leave time off the job for treatment. “It didn’t work, and the hepatitis came back.”

 

Meanwhile, her back pain increasingly got worse. “I stood on my feet training eight to 10 hours a day,” she said, “and that took a toll on my back.”

 

Advised by her doctor to have a second round of interferon treatment, Ms. Mikesell would have to miss work a second time. “My company was not as compassionate the second time,” she said. “In June 2007, they conveniently eliminated my position.”

 

Rather than try to return to work anywhere, her doctor said that, at only age 42, she should apply for disability. “My doctor said I would have a long road ahead of me,” Ms. Mikesell said.

 

In August 2007, she applied online for Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) benefits. She was denied in December 2007, told that her condition was not serious enough.

 

Frustrated, she searched the Internet in January 2008 for information about her diseases. “It was a Godsend when I looked on the right side of the screen and saw a link for Allsup,” she said. “It said Allsup could help with disability applications.”

 

The link put Ms. Mikesell in contact with Allsup, a nationwide provider of Social Security disability, Medicare and Medicare Secondary Payer compliance services for individuals, employers and insurance carriers. Founded in 1984, Allsup employs nearly 700 professionals who deliver specialized services supporting people with disabilities and seniors so they may lead lives that are as financially secure and as healthy as possible.

 

“The people at Allsup worked over the phone with me on my appeal,” she said. “They also told me I would probably be turned down with my appeal. They said I’d have a better chance at the hearing level.”

 

Her appeal was denied, as expected, which was still frustrating. “The Allsup people kept reassuring me,” she said. “I was on the phone with them weekly, and they did all the legwork.”

 

To speed up the approval process, Allsup also suggested that Ms. Mikesell write to Sen. Bill Nelson (D-Fla.) to ask for a congressional review of her case. “I never heard of that and wouldn’t have known to do that without Allsup’s help,” she said. “I think it helped get my hearing scheduled sooner.”

 

Ms. Mikesell’s hearing before an administrative law judge was set for Sept. 2, 2009. Allsup senior representative Amy Hertza had prepared the legal brief and met with her client to prepare for what turned out to be a brief court session.

 

“Amy was great,” Ms. Mikesell said. “She was very confident. I think it was only a 10-minute hearing. When the judge said he was putting in a fully favorable decision, I melted in my chair.

 

“I had moved in with my mother because I lost my COBRA health insurance from my job and used up my savings and my mom’s, too,” she said. “So, it was a win for both of us.”

 

As an added service, Ms. Mikesell also used the Allsup Medicare Advisor to help select a Medicare plan. She worked with Noel Taylor, one of Allsup’s Medicare experts. Allsup Medicare Adviser provides an objective, custom-designed evaluation to help people select the Medicare option that best fits their needs.

 

The first step in the Allsup Medicare Advisor process is an in-depth conversation between the client and an experienced Allsup specialist. The goal is to identify the client’s needs. The Allsup representative collects information such as the client’s location, health history, prescriptions, medical provider preferences and financial situation.

 

A person’s experience, Mr., Taylor explained, does not guarantee one can wade through the Medicare selection process and pick a plan that suits his or her needs. Allsup has helped businessmen, nurses and accountants who were confounded by the choices available to them though Allsup Medicare Advisor.

 

Ms. Mikesell selected a plan in November 2009 with coverage starting Dec. 1. That meant she could see her doctor for the first time in a year and resume treatments.

 

“I really feel for people who don’t get help applying for disability,” she said. “Allsup has been a big stress reliever. The ‘A’ in Allsup is for awesome.”