Clever Care Health Plan is pairing its culturally competent care model with a new provider network partnership built around the lifestyle habits of the world’s longest-living populations.
The partnership launches in 2026 and will connect Clever Care’s 40,000 Medicare Advantage members to a network of more than 2,500 Blue Zones Health providers in Southern California that emphasize longevity and preventive care.
“We are rooted in providing holistic care from a culturally competent perspective, so this partnership just really makes sense for us,” Karen Walker Johnson, CEO of Clever Care, told Becker’s. “It’s a way of us really doubling down on what’s been working, and it’s investing more and more in that culturally competent component of whole person care.”
“Blue zones” refers to regions around the world where an unusually high number of residents live past 100, which has been linked to factors such as daily movement, strong social bonds, low stress and whole food diets. Blue Zones Health operates on a care model built around those factors, with primary care providers aiming to prescribe lifestyle changes within a 20-mile area of the member’s home.
“Blue Zones is a network with the philosophy behind addressing the root causes of chronic disease, and they do it from the perspective of focusing on nutrition and community and community connectedness and lifestyle,” Ms. Walker Johnson said. “That really mirrors our approach.”
Clever Care is not the only insurer investing in the blue zones concept. Blue Shield of California launched a digital program in 2024 that allows its 4.8 million members to complete assessments on longevity, happiness, nutrition and purpose, and to track daily activities.
Clever Care plans to measure the partnership’s success through star ratings improvement and member satisfaction surveys. Clever Care’s existing network includes 30,000 providers and facilities, 48 hospitals, nearly 2,000 bilingual physicians and more than 700 directly contracted acupuncturists.
