Obtaining Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) is a difficult and complex process. Two out of every three applicants initially are denied.

John Minton was suffering from degenerative disk disease, rheumatoid arthritis, and other ailments when his initial application was denied.

John Minton was succinct. “I worked my hind end off all my life,” he said. “That was one of my problems. I overdid it.

For most of his life he was a machinist, starting as a teenager in Texas in 1978. “I’ve been on my own since I was 15,” he said. He left to operate games for a carnival and ended up with a Florida company in 1983.

He changed jobs in 2006 to work for a company that makes lifesaving equipment. No longer a manager, he slid into depression, and unknown physical ailments also started to take their toll.

I got pain all over and went to a chiropractor,” he said. “The treatments helped for two or three days, and then I was back to where I was before.

He started to make uncharacteristic mistakes at work. “I operated lathes and milling machines," he said.

I started to drop tools, and that wasn’t normal because I did perfect work.”

Suffering “tremendous fatigue,” he said, “I just couldn’t move. My doctor did a stress test on me and asked me why I hadn’t applied for disability. That hadn’t entered my mind because I didn’t know I was that bad off.”
 
Only 47 years old, he had degenerative disc disease with four degenerating discs in his neck and two bulging discs in his lower back. He also had chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and rheumatoid arthritis. Going back to work was no longer an option.

Mr. Minton decided to apply for Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) benefits on his own, which he soon learned was a bad idea. He visited his local Social Security Administration (SSA) office, which arranged for him to be seen by a government doctor.
 
“I saw the doctor,” he said, “but he just wished me good luck and didn’t say anything else.” Then, in April 2008, his application was denied.
 
At that point, Mr. Minton talked with his brother in Indiana. He was getting help with his own disability claim and told him to contact Allsup, which Mr. Minton learned is the nation’s leading SSDI representation company.

Allsup helps people just like Mr. Minton collect SSDI benefits that he had paid for with FICA taxes throughout his working life.

Mr. Minton called Allsup in April 2008 and never had to leave home for anything related to his SSDI claim after that.

“Allsup was great,” he said. “I’d go to my doctor as things happened and call Allsup to tell them which hospital I was at. I kept them informed of everything as it happened, and they’d follow up with me. They did a great job.”

There was a lot of medical information to keep up with. By Mr. Minton’s count, “I died about five times last year” during surgery or preparing for surgeries. Due to the 18 medications he was taking, one evening he got up from his couch and collapsed, breaking all the toes in his left foot.

That required reconstructive surgery. He also passed out while watching TV and was put on a ventilator for five days, had three bouts with pneumonia, and even what should have been simple gall bladder surgery escalated because of life-threatening complications.

But his approval for SSDI was not a certainty. To make sure an administrative law judge understood the severity of Mr. Minton’s case, Allsup turned to one of the company’s senior representatives.

The representative compiled Mr. Minton’s ever-growing medical records into a brief and sent it to an administrative law judge near his home. The result – an on-the-record decision. Mr. Minton did not have to appear in person at a hearing.

Finally, in October 2008, Mr. Minton received a letter from SSA indicating a fully favorable decision.

“I felt like a load was being taken off my back,” he said. “The doctor bills had been piling up, and the companies I worked for didn’t have retirement funds. I had savings, but they were drained.

“Now I don’t have to depend on my wife for everything,” he said. “I can concentrate on living my life as best I can under the circumstances. Without Allsup’s help, I don’t know what I would have done.”