Obtaining
Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) can be a time-consuming and stressful experience. Two out of every three applicants initially are denied. Travis Blair, a married father of two, suffered his first epileptic seizure at age 21. Depression and sleep disorders followed, and his doctor recommended that Mr. Blair apply for disability benefits. After applying on his own and failing to obtain his SSDI, his father stepped in with good advice—call Allsup. Read how Mr. Blair’s life changed with that phone call.
* This is a true story as told to Allsup.
Struck down at an early age, an aspiring salesman faced a tough sell of his own disability.
Seizures Cut Off Career Before It Could Start
By Jim Katzaman
Jasper, Indiana—Disability can strike at any age. Travis Blair knows. Not yet 30 years old, the married father of two from Jasper has likely worked his last regular job.
He had no prior medical problems and had just started a career in sales when he suffered an epileptic seizure at age 21. By 24 he was having seizures on a regular basis. Mr. Blair's mother died three years later, which led him into depression and sleep disorders.
By that time, his career was a shambles. His sales occupation lasted only four years.
"I lost my job in July 2007 because I kept having seizures at work," he said. "I even tried to work at a pizza place. But my first day on the job I had a seizure and broke my left shoulder. Since then I've had seizure and shoulder problems."
Mr. Blair's doctor suggested that his patient should apply for Social Security
Disability Insurance (SSDI) benefits. Following that advice, Mr. Blair applied on his own and, as with most people, he was denied. His appeal also was declined.
At that point his father offered words from hard-earned experience. He also suffered a disability, but his application was approved thanks to help from Allsup, a company created to help people receive their SSDI benefits. In February 2008, Mr. Blair's father said his son should call Allsup.
Allsup is 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 company is based in Belleville, Ill., near St. Louis.
"I called Allsup," Mr. Blair said. "Once they got started, it was like a dream. It was perfect. After they interviewed me on the phone, they sent me paperwork all filled out. All I had to do was read it and sign."
Allsup representatives then took Mr. Blair's information and gathered all of his medical records into one package.
Throughout the process, as Mr. Blair recalled, "Every time I had a question, I could give Allsup a call. If they didn't know then, they'd call me back that day or the next with the answer."
Since Mr. Blair's own initial application and appeal were denied, Allsup moved his appeal to the next level—a hearing before an administrative law judge in Evansville in September 2009.
Allsup senior representative Robert Edwards accompanied Mr. Blair to court. In their first face-to-face meeting, just before they entered the courtroom, Mr. Edwards told his client what to expect.
The hearing lasted only 15 minutes, and the judge talked by phone with a court-appointed vocational expert who holds a Ph.D. and teaches at Southern Illinois University in Carbondale, Ill. The judge next asked Mr. Blair about his condition.
"Then he said, based on my file, he was going to rule in my favor," Mr. Blair said. "I felt great. It took a few years, but it finally happened."
Soon after the Social Security Administration received the judge's decision, Mr. Blair, now 29, had his first SSDI payment. He also receives Medicare benefits, which helps offset his long-term medical costs. "As far as the doctor can tell," Mr. Blair said, "this is going to affect me the rest of my life."
Looking back on his struggle to earn
SSDI benefits, he said, "You couldn't do this on your own. Allsup did everything I could possibly think of. The money they helped me receive helps tremendously. Before, it was just my wife working four days a week, and we've got two kids. This is so much better."