SCAN embraces 'rebels with a cause' founding in new brand identity

SCAN Group is refreshing its visual identity, building its new look around honoring the "rebels with a cause" that founded the company and who continue to inspire its work.

SCAN, which stands for Senior Care Action Network, was founded in 1977 by 12 older adults who were not satisfied with the care they were receiving and wanted to advocate for better for seniors. SCAN unveiled its first Medicare plan in 1984 and has continued to grow ever since.

SCAN's logo with a heart and multiple beams radiating outward
SCAN's new brand identity (SCAN Group)

To hearken back to those "12 angry seniors," as the company calls them, SCAN is rolling out a new logo featuring a heart that is surrounding by 12 beams radiating outward.

"We felt like the notion of a beaming heart with 12 beams representing the 12 founding members, or 12 founding mothers and fathers, would really bring to life the origin story, even as we go forward and continue to redefine aging in America," CEO Sachin Jain, M.D., said in an exclusive interview with Fierce Healthcare.

SCAN has charted significant growth over the past several years, expanding to offer Medicare Advantage coverage in five states. It has also launched its Healthcare in Action medical group, which uses a street medicine model to reach homeless patients in Long Beach and 16 counties across California.

It has also led the charge in designing MA products for unique populations, including plans tailored to LGBTQ+ seniors, women and Asian seniors.

The insurer also recently led the charge in challenging the star ratings methodology in Medicare Advantage and won a major legal challenge against the government that led the feds to recalculate the stars.

"I think what we're trying to do is infuse that spirit of rebellion, that spirit of protest, that spirit of activism, into our visual identity, and kind of let people know that we're not a company that is engaged in business as usual," Jain said.

Nishant Shukla, SCAN's chief marketing officer, told Fierce that the company bid out the branding effort about a year ago and after vetting multiple applicants identified Koto as "a strong partner to help us in this evolution."

He said that the goal was to bring the spirit that is embodied by its workers and its approach to the fore in this new brand identity.

"We've always kind of had this hankering and this desire to make this come to life," Shukla said. "We know that our visual identity as it stands today didn't really reflect this spirit that's within our employee base."

Jain said the new branding makes clear that the organization will continue to push on longstanding norms in healthcare.

"I think what we're really trying to do is position ourselves as an organization that's going to challenge the status quo, that's going to stop normalizing the abnormal," he said.