What Medicare Star Ratings are
Medicare Star Ratings are annual CMS ratings for Medicare Advantage and Part D contracts. CMS posted the 2027 ratings on October 8, 2026. They are on Medicare Plan Finder for 2027 Open Enrollment, October 15 through December 7, 2026, and they affect 2028 quality bonus payments. They are not the 2027 bonus. Outcome and intermediate-outcome measures count 3, process measures count 1, and patient experience and access measures count 2. Physical health and mental health moved from weight 1 in the 2026 ratings to weight 3. About 71% of MA-PD enrollees are in contracts with 4 or more 2027 stars.
The contract year 2027 final rule, published April 2026, dropped the planned Excellent Health Outcomes for All reward and kept the historical reward factor. Its measure removals hit later years. Call center and statin therapy for cardiovascular disease leave in the 2028 ratings. Appeals, complaints, and several survey measures leave in the 2029 ratings. They are still in the 2027 ratings. The three Part D adherence measures stay at weight 3 for 2027. A sociodemographic risk adjustment CMS finalized in April 2023 starts with the 2028 ratings. Consultants expect weight 1 for 2028, but CMS has not posted the 2028 weights.
The measures that move stars come down to completed patient actions: closed screening gaps, controlled chronic conditions, and on-time refills. Rivvi helps teams find those patients in their own files and run the outreach, with clinical questions routed to a person and every outcome logged.