SCAN Health Plan offers innovation for 2021 with a human touch

The COVID-19 pandemic has produced unprecedented challenges for healthcare this year. Yet as we head into 2021 and the future of health and Medicare plans, there have also been many positive lessons that will only improve patient care and overall wellness for Californians.

"We've learned to value the patient and their time, as much as we were valuing the doctor and his or her time," said Eve Gelb, Senior Vice President of Member and Community Health at Long Beach-based SCAN Health Plan. "[The health system] is paying attention to the social needs of individuals. It's paying attention to the health inequities that exist."

Founded by senior activists in Long Beach in 1977, SCAN - then known as Senior Care Action Network - helped to spur a significant shift in healthcare. By bringing together diverse social service agencies and medical providers into an integrated, community-based organization, SCAN gave area seniors greater access to affordable support and services. Today, SCAN offers one of the nation's largest non-profit Medicare Advantage plans, with more than 220,000 members across California.

"We are a plan created by seniors, for seniors, [whereas] so many of the other health insurance plans cover people of all ages and at different life stages," Gelb explained.

"We don't just see healthcare as what is delivered in a doctor's office or hospital.

We see health as overall well-being, and the ability to live where and how people want to Iive."

In-person care can be offered safely by SCAN’s providers. ©moodboard / Adobe Stock

Accordingly, SCAN's Medicare Advantage plans offer benefits like gym memberships, hearing aids, and vision care - even fitness trackers in some plans. Some SCAN plans also provide post-hospitalization support, such as home caregiving and home-delivered meals, and a Respite Care benefit offering relief services to full-time, unpaid caregivers like family and friends.

"Our roots being in Long Beach ... really helps us understand the needs of the population that we serve in California," said Gelb. "And being local allows us to have 'boots on the ground.' So we are in our members' homes probably more than any of the other plans."

As well as comprehensive pharmacy benefits, many SCAN plans offer overthe-counter coverage for hundreds of the most-used healthcare items, such as pain relievers, vitamins, and first aid supplies. "A lot of other plans offer certain benefits one year, and then they take them away the next year," Gelb said. "But what we try to do is offer real, meaningful benefits that are consistent and stable year over year."

Even amid the turmoil of 2020, SCAN has continued to add new benefits. One is BrainHO, which provides online games designed to strengthen the brain with the mental skills -memory, vision, driving skills, etc. —so vital to staying independent as we age.

Another is HEALTHtech, which was prompted by the exponential expansion of technology in health, especially virtual doctor visits, during the pandemic.

It offers no-cost tech support for telehealth visit set-up and training; mail-order prescription set-up; medical group patient portal access and SCAN online member account registration. The goal is to bridge the digital divide that can restrict an individual's access to contemporary healthcare.

SCAN saw a huge rise in telehealth use during 2020, from less than 1% of total visits pre-pandemic to 36% of the visits in April. But while Gelb predicted that some types of virtual visit will continue, she says SCAN expects in-person visits to pick back up in 2021.

"Hands-on, in-person care is going to come back," she said. "We will figure out ways -and many of the medical groups and doctors we work with have already figured out ways -to see folks in person, which is super-important ... [to] stay in tune with what's going on with our members."

Gelb hopes that the rise in telehealth will, by making doctors' day-to-day work more efficient, make space for improvements in the overall quality of care offered. Other unforeseen upsides of the pandemic may be less tangible, but equally significant to senior welI-being.

"A lot of us have now experienced what it feels Iike to be socially isolated, and that awareness creates understanding for older adults who have been experiencing social isolation without the pandemic" said Gelb. "I'm expecting that we will all be more empathetic in how we engage with one another."

Gelb also urged that seniors get their flu immunizations at this time of year, and underscored SCAN Health Plan's drive to create awareness among their members who tend to tend to get fewer immunizations.

Overall, she says, "We're excited about a 'new normal,' as long as we can make sure that that new normal transforms our health system into one that is driven by what works for the patient. Because our goal is to weave our expertise into their lives on their terms, when and how they want it; not to fit them into the system that we've designed."

—Paul Rogers, Custom Publishing Writer

SCAN Health Plan is an HMO Plan with a Medicare contract. Enrollment in SCAN Health Plan depends on contract renewal.