At a glance
Surgery touches more of your benefits than almost any other life moment: how you find and pay your surgeon, your hospital stay, your income while you recover, and physical therapy afterward. The steps below help you move through everything, step by step.
Check whether Lantern is available to you.
If you’re enrolled in the HSA Core or HSA Value plan, surgery support through Lantern can lower what you pay and simplify your billing — and it’s required for spine, joint, or bariatric surgery to be covered at all. If you’re in the Copay PPO plan, Lantern isn’t available to you, so skip to Step 2.
Find your surgeon
If you’re in the HSA Core or HSA Value plan, call a Lantern Care Advocate at 888-895-6985 to get started. They’ll explain your benefit, ask what care you’re looking for, and match you with a hand-picked list of board-certified surgeons for common procedures including spine, orthopedics, ENT, cardiac, gynecology, general surgery, gastrointestinal, urology, and bariatrics.
Not sure where to start? A health care concierge through Health Advocacy Solutions is available through all LSC Medical Plans and can help you find an in-network provider and understand what your plan covers.
Remember: Using a Lantern surgeon is required for planned spine, joint, and bariatric surgery to be covered — for other procedure types it’s optional, but it typically saves you money.
Get pre-approved
Let your Care Advocate guide you. Once you’ve chosen a Lantern surgeon, they’ll help set up your appointments and walk you through every step, from admission to discharge.
One payment, not a stack of bills. With Lantern, you make a single payment covering your surgeon, the facility, anesthesia, and more — all paid prior to surgery, so there’s no confusing paperwork afterward.
Plan the cost
Know your Lantern price cap. If your surgery is a covered Lantern procedure, the most you’ll pay is $1,750 for Employee Only coverage or $3,500 for Employee + Dependents coverage — using a Lantern surgeon typically saves $2,000–$4,000 .
Set aside pre-tax dollars. An HSA, Health Care FSA, or Limited-Use Health Care FSA can help cover costs Lantern doesn’t include — like testing, scans, imaging, durable medical equipment, or physical therapy expenses, which may not be part of your Lantern payment but could be covered by your LSC Medical Plan.
Save receipts for anything you pay out of pocket, so you can file for an FSA reimbursement. Always keep your HSA and FSA expense receipts — the IRS may require documentation to verify eligible expenses for tax reasons.
Plan your time off
Family and Medical Leave (FMLA) covers up to 12 weeks of leave to care for yourself, or General Leave of Absence for documented time off outside FMLA — talk to The Hartford about eligibility and which fits your situation. You may qualify for state-provided leave. Contact your state agency for details. Don't forget to inform your manager and Human Resources.
Protect your income during recovery. If you’re approved by The Hartford for Short-Term Disability, you’ll receive a weekly benefit of 60% of your pre-disability base pay for up to 26 weeks, starting after a 7-day waiting period. If your recovery runs longer, Long-Term Disability, if approved, can begin on day 181, paying 50% of your base pay (or 60% if you’ve elected Buy-Up LTD), up to $10,000 a month.
If you’ll be on a Leave of Absence, the Company will direct-bill you for most benefits except your HSA, FSAs, and commuter benefits, for which your contributions will temporarily stop. Once you return from leave, you will need to complete a Special Enrollment to re-enroll in HSA, FSA, and commuter contributions.
Your hospital stay
If you’re enrolled in Hospital Indemnity (MetLife), it pays you directly — $500 for the admission, plus $250 a day for up to 31 days and if your condition requires inpatient rehabilitation, you’ll receive $100 per day for up to 15 days — cash you can use however you need during your stay.
File a claim at metlife.com/mybenefits, by phone, or through the MetLife Mobile App, entering LSC Communications as your organization name.
Recovery at home
Ease back pain, joint pain, or stiffness with Virtual Physical Therapy. Hinge Health is free for you and covered dependents 18+ enrolled in an LSC Medical Plan — a digital MSK clinic with guided exercise therapy, wearable sensors, and 1-on-1 coaching from a physical therapist — no referral or diagnosis needed to register. Sign up at hinge.health/lsccommunications. (After surgery, consult with your surgeon to ensure you are released from restrictions before participating.)
Lean on the EAP if the stress of recovery is weighing on you — confidential counseling is available 24/7 for you and your household, with up to six free sessions per issue, per year.
Keep this handy through every step
Check whether Lantern applies to your plan before you pick a surgeon
Use a Lantern surgeon if your procedure is spine, joint, or bariatric — it’s required for coverage
Set aside FSA or HSA funds for costs Lantern doesn’t include
Inform Human Resources about your upcoming surgery and when you plan to go out on leave
File a Short-Term Disability claim with The Hartford if you’ll be out of work
Check your eligibility for state-provided LOA by contacting the appropriate state agency
File a Hospital Indemnity claim if you’re admitted
Register for Hinge Health Virtual Physical Therapy for your recovery
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