2027 Medicare Star Ratings Are Out: What Should You Check Beyond the Score?

What do Medicare Star Ratings measure?

Medicare is the federal health insurance program primarily for people age 65 and older, along with some other eligible people. Medicare Advantage plans are offered by private insurers under contract with Medicare. Part D covers prescription drugs.

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, or CMS, administers Medicare and publishes ratings for Medicare Advantage and Part D contracts. Its one-to-five-star system summarizes multiple measures of plan quality and performance.

CMS released the 2027 ratings on October 8, 2026. This year’s measure set adds concurrent opioid and benzodiazepine use and use of multiple anticholinergic medicines among older adults. CMS also restored a measure of older adults’ functional status after revising how it is calculated.

These are changes to contract-level measures. They are not findings about an individual member’s health or care.

Where can you see the ratings?

Annual Open Enrollment runs from October 15 through December 7, 2026. You can use Medicare Plan Finder to search for plans by ZIP code and coverage year.

The Plan Finder shows options available in a particular location. Results can vary by location and year, so a list for one ZIP code should not be treated as a list for another.

Why look beyond the star rating?

A rating does not tell you whether your doctor is in a plan’s network. It also does not show whether a specific medicine is covered, which pharmacies apply, or what your total costs may be for the year.

For each plan, check its name, doctors, medicines, pharmacies, monthly premium, and out-of-pocket costs. Then confirm details with Medicare or the plan. This article does not rank plans or recommend choosing or changing coverage.

CMS describes quality through contract-level measures. Personal needs depend on the doctors, medicines, services, and costs that matter to each person. A star rating can be one data point, but it does not replace reviewing a plan’s benefits.