IHSS & SCAN Health Plan
Published by IHSSHours.com · · Updated
🌐 Leer en Español →SCAN Health Plan is a Medicare Advantage company that serves older adults in California. Most of its plans have no effect on IHSS. Two of them do: if you join SCAN Connections or SCAN Connections at Home, you may not also receive IHSS. Here is which plans those are, why, and what to check before you enroll.
SCAN runs two plans for people who have both Medicare and Medi-Cal. The state describes them as fully integrated plans: one organization covers the person's health care, home care, transportation and related benefits.
- SCAN Connections is open to people with both Medicare and Medi-Cal who meet the basic requirements below.
- SCAN Connections at Home is for people who meet the same requirements and also need nursing-facility level of care.
The California Department of Health Care Services (DHCS) states the rule plainly: members of these two plans get in-home care and care coordination through SCAN, and may not also receive In-Home Supportive Services. They also cannot be enrolled in the Assisted Living Waiver, the Home and Community-Based Alternatives Waiver (the one that includes WPCS), or the Multipurpose Senior Services Program.
To join either plan, a person must:
- have Medicare Part A and Part B;
- have full-scope Medi-Cal with no share of cost;
- be 65 or older; and
- live in Los Angeles, Riverside, San Bernardino or San Diego County.
SCAN Connections at Home adds one requirement: meeting the state's criteria for nursing-facility level of care.
SCAN sells other Medicare Advantage plans as well. DHCS says members of those other plans may be eligible for IHSS and for the waiver programs. Being "on SCAN" does not by itself tell you anything about IHSS. The plan name does.
These plans are paid to provide in-home care themselves. IHSS on top of that would mean two programs paying for the same help. The state applies the same rule to PACE, another plan that provides all of a member's care: counties are told to end IHSS when someone enrolls.
Joining one of these two plans means giving up IHSS, so compare what you have with what you would get. Ask SCAN, and get the answers in writing:
- How many hours of help at home would the plan give me each week, and how is that decided?
- Who would the caregiver be? Could the person who helps me now, including a family member, keep being paid?
- If my needs grow, how do I ask for more help, and how do I appeal if the plan says no?
- If I leave the plan later, when does my coverage end?
Then put the plan's answer next to your IHSS Notice of Action, which shows the hours you are authorized now. If a family member is your paid IHSS provider, their pay is part of the decision too.
If the county ends your IHSS, it must send you a Notice of Action, and you have the right to appeal it. How IHSS appeals work.
You would need to leave the plan first. Before you change anything, call your county IHSS office and ask how to apply, and how long an application is taking, so you are not left without help in between. A county has up to 90 days to decide an IHSS application. Then talk to HICAP, California's free Medicare counseling program, about when you can change plans and what you would move to: 1-800-434-0222.
- DHCS, SCAN Connections and SCAN Connections at Home — the two plans, who may join, the four counties, and the statement that members may not also receive IHSS or be enrolled in the ALW, HCBA or MSSP waivers, while members of other SCAN Medicare Advantage plans may be eligible
- SCAN Health Plan, SCAN Connections at Home plan page — age 65 or older, Medicare and full Medi-Cal, nursing-facility level of care, the four counties
- CDSS All County Letter 09-37 — counties end IHSS for Medi-Cal beneficiaries enrolled in PACE, to avoid paying twice for personal care
- WIC 10951 — the right to a State Hearing on a Notice of Action
- CDSS All County Letter 22-57 — counties are measured at 90 days from the date a person asks for IHSS
- California Department of Aging, HICAP — free Medicare counseling
Checked against the pages above on October 7, 2026. Educational information, not legal or insurance advice. More on our sources and method: How we calculate estimates.
Educational information, not legal advice. Only your county can authorize IHSS services, and only after an assessment. IHSSHours.com is an independent resource and is not affiliated with CDSS or any county IHSS office. · More IHSS guides