What is the Medicare Star Rating System?
Medicare uses a Star Rating System to measure how well Medicare Advantage and Part D plans perform. According to medicare.gov, Medicare uses information from member satisfaction surveys, plans, and healthcare providers to give overall performance star ratings to plans. Ratings range from one to five stars, with five being the highest and one being the lowest. These ratings help you compare plans based on quality and performance. Medicare updates these ratings each fall for the following year.
Star rating map by CMS.gov
Medicare Advantage Plans are rated on how well they perform in five different categories:
Plans are rated in each individual category. Medicare also assigns plans one overall star rating to summarize the plan’s performance as a whole.
- Staying healthy: screenings, tests, and vaccines
- Managing chronic (long-term) conditions
- Plan responsiveness and care
- Member complaints, problems getting services, and choosing to leave the plan
- Health plan customer service
Part D plans are rated on how well they perform in four different categories:
- Drug plan customer service
- Member complaints, problems getting services, and choosing to leave the plan
- Member experience with the drug plan
- Drug pricing and patient safety
You can only switch to a 5-star Medicare Advantage Plan, Medicare Cost Plan, or Medicare Prescription Drug Plan once between December 8 and November 30.
If you move from a Medicare Advantage Plan that includes prescription drug coverage to a stand-alone Medicare Prescription Drug Plan, you’ll be disenrolled from your Medicare Advantage Plan, including the health benefit. You’ll be returned to Original Medicare for coverage of your health services. You can only switch to a 5-star Medicare Prescription Drug Plan if one is available in your area.
If you move from a Medicare Advantage Plan that has drug coverage to a 5‑star Medicare Advantage Plan that doesn’t, you may lose your prescription drug coverage. You’ll have to wait until your next enrollment opportunity to get drug coverage, and you may have to pay a Part D late enrollment penalty.
5-star plans are identified with this special icon 
Visit https://www.medicare.gov/plan-compare/ to find and compare health and drug plans.
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We hope that this information on star ratings is useful to you.
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