If you go into short-term disability, and Signa is your company's carrier, then you have a world of hurt ahead of you. I've been off for nearly six months with a dislocated SI joint, I have constant pain in my groin and low back, and I've been this way for eight years. It started when I was lifting 70 lb. concentrators for this company that was bought by another one recently.

So here I am on Short-term, and I'm required to make sure my doctor gets my Signa representative doctor's notes so I can get paid. Here's the tricky part: I call my Signa representative, and she ignores my calls until it's too late. Then she tells me she was given the wrong fax number so I don't get paid. It's been a month now, and because my rep didn't get the proper information from my doctor, I won't be paid for another two weeks. However, I still don't know if my rep has the right info because she won't return my calls.

So I call my employer who throws her hands up saying that Signa didn't get the doctor's notes in time, and there's nothing the company can do about it. Even if Signa gets information tomorrow, another check won't be drafted until the next pay period.

Therefore, if you have Signa as your disability carrier, this will be your fate. I know because I'm not the only one this happened to from my company. A friend of mine had experienced the same problems. I wonder who's bottom line is affected by this shoddy business practice?