1977–1978 The Senior Care Action Network, now known as SCAN, was created based on a proposal developed by a team at the
University of Southern California. The new network was briefly known as the Long Beach Geriatric Healthcare Council, Inc., before changing its name to SCAN. Its healthcare delivery model centered on assessing each senior's needs individually in order to coordinate social services and medical care through a network of local agencies, community providers, and hospitals, enabling older adults to remain living safely in their homes as they aged.
1979–1983 Multipurpose Senior Services Program In 1979, the state of California selected SCAN as one of eight sites for the state's Multipurpose Senior Services Program (MSSP). This program helps elderly Medi-Cal recipients in the Long Beach area stay out of nursing institutions as long as possible by providing home-based services. For more than 40 years, SCAN has served California's most at-risk seniors as one of the state's MSSP sites through Independence at Home, a community service of SCAN.
Social HMO Until 1983, SCAN had been relatively unknown outside of Long Beach. That changed when it was awarded a federal contract as one of four sites nationwide to pilot the Social Health Maintenance Organization (SHMO) demonstration program. The SHMO concept expanded SCAN's existing model of home-based services for seniors to include at-risk elderly individuals enrolled in Medicare while also providing healthcare coverage to other Medicare beneficiaries. In November 1984, under a three-and-a-half-year contract with the federal government, SCAN was officially licensed as a health plan in California. In March 1985, it began enrolling members in its Social HMO. Congress renewed the SHMO demonstration project five times before the program ended in 2004.
1996–1998 Growth and expansion Between 1996 and 1998, SCAN more than doubled its membership by expanding into three Southern California counties: Orange, Riverside, and San Bernardino. When the government ended the SHMO program, SCAN continued operating as a Medicare Advantage plan, offering healthcare coverage and services beyond what the federal Medicare program alone would provide. SCAN continued to grow, extending its service area and membership across both Southern and Northern California.
2020–2026 In 2021, SCAN grew by more than 60,000 members, largely due to the popularity of its Embrace Venture plan, a product that offered a Medicare Part B premium give-back during a period of heightened inflation to help ease financial burdens for seniors. SCAN's growth during this period was also fueled by expansion into three Arizona counties (Maricopa, Pima, and Pinal) and Clark County, Nevada, marking the first time SCAN expanded beyond California into two states simultaneously. During the 2022 Annual Enrollment Period, SCAN's membership grew to more than 285,000 people. That growth was driven by the launch of new products including SCAN Affirm, the first LGBTQ+ focused Medicare Advantage plan, and SCAN's expansion into Texas and Nye County, Nevada. During the 2026 Annual Enrollment Period, SCAN recorded the largest membership increase in its history, with membership growing by more than 127,000 individuals and total enrollment reaching nearly 440,000 members. == Quality of care and rankings ==