2027 Medicare Advantage Star Ratings · Highlights

Fewer plans reached 4 stars. More members are in plans that did.

CMS released the 2027 Star Ratings on October 8, 2026. They set 2028 quality bonus payments. 188 of 508 rated MA-PD contracts (37%) earned 4.0★ or above, down from 229 (44%) in 2026. Weighted by enrollment the share rose, to about 71% of MA-PD enrollees from about 67%.

188

contracts at 4.0★ or above

37% of rated MA-PD contracts, from 44%

71%

of MA-PD enrollees in a 4.0★+ contract

from about 67% in 2026

five-star contracts

from 22 in 2026

3.99

average rating, enrollment-weighted

from 4.01 in 2026

What the counts don't show

48 of 108

Close to losing the bonus

48 of the 108 contracts rated 4.0★ score within 0.10 of the line where the rating drops to 3.5★, and 21 within 0.05. They keep the 5% bonus for 2028; a small decline in next year's ratings would put it at risk. CMS publishes ratings, not the scores behind them. QPROi reproduces CMS's 2027 method, which matches 507 of 508 published MA-PD ratings.

12 vs 7

The declines were broad

The 62 contracts that fell from 4.0★ or above to below it lost at least a star on a median of 12 measures. Across all contracts rated in both years, the median was 7. Slippage this broad points to how a plan runs, not to one clinical program.

93% vs 66%

Member experience fell with them

93% of those 62 contracts dropped at least a star on a member-experience survey measure, against 66% of all contracts. Rating of Health Plan fell for 62% of them, against 27%.

39% to 32%

Special needs plans fell further behind

Among contracts that offer a special needs plan, the share at 4.0★ or above fell from 39% to 32%. Among contracts that do not, it rose from 42% to 45%.

QPROi analysis of the CMS 2026 and 2027 Star Ratings data tables. Comparisons cover the 468 MA-PD contracts rated in both years; measure comparisons exclude new and respecified measures. 2026 ratings are as CMS first published them in October 2025. CMS later raised some 2026 ratings after its June 2026 recalculation, and those contract-level updates are not in the public data tables. A special needs plan contract offers at least one such plan.

Where contracts landed

20262027

Overall	2026	2027	2027 share of enrollees
5★	22	15	2.2%
4.5★	89	65	32.7%
4★	118	108	35.8%
3.5★	166	164	19.7%
3★	98	124	8.8%
2.5★	21	31	0.8%
2★	2	1	under 0.1%

Measures that pulled ratings down

Blood pressure control-0.39★43% of contracts fell
Diabetes medication adherence-0.39★44% of contracts fell
Plan Finder price accuracy-0.37★39% of contracts fell

Measures that lifted them

Plan all-cause readmissions+0.48★49% of contracts rose
Improving bladder control+0.37★44% of contracts rose
Transitions of care+0.33★34% of contracts rose

Average change in measure stars, 2026 to 2027, across contracts rated on the measure in both years.

The full summary goes further. The full edition adds the measure-set changes, what the release means for 2028 payments, and more of the patterns above.

Get the full summary Request a free Stars Snapshot