Medicare Advantage

Medicare Star Ratings in Turlock: What the Stars Measure

Stanislaus County has 36 Medicare Advantage plans for 2027. Compared with 2026, 10 plans are not coming back, 8 are new, and 31 continuing plans changed in some way you should check before December 7, 13 of them under a new name. This guide covers what those numbers mean for Turlock, not which plan to pick.

TURLOCK, Calif. — As the fall Medicare season gets underway, star ratings are back in the news. Each October, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) publishes updated Star Ratings for Medicare Advantage and Part D plans. If you live in Turlock and you're weighing your coverage during this fall's Annual Enrollment Period, understanding what those one-to-five stars actually measure — and what they don't — can make the choices in front of you feel a lot less confusing.

What Star Ratings actually measure

Star Ratings are CMS's yearly report card on Medicare Advantage and Part D prescription drug plans. Plans are scored from 1 star (poor) to 5 stars (excellent), based on dozens of measures that fall into a few big buckets:

• Staying healthy: whether members get recommended screenings, vaccines, and check-ups.
• Managing chronic conditions: how well the plan helps people manage things like diabetes or high blood pressure.
• Member experience: what current members say in surveys about their care and their plan.
• Member complaints and plan performance: how often people leave the plan, and how CMS's own audits go.
• Customer service: call center performance, appeals handling, and access to care.

For Part D drug coverage, ratings also look at drug pricing accuracy, medication safety, and how well the plan supports members taking medicines for long-term conditions.

What Star Ratings do not measure

This is where a lot of readers get tripped up. A star rating is not a price tag. It doesn't tell you what a plan costs, what drugs are on the formulary, which doctors are in the network, or whether your specific prescriptions are covered. Two plans with the same star count can look very different once you compare the details that matter to your life.

That's why CMS publishes ratings as one tool among several — not as a ranking of "best" plans.

When the ratings come out each fall

CMS posts the new Star Ratings in early October, just before the Annual Enrollment Period opens on October 15 and runs through December 7. That timing is intentional: it gives people a fresh look at plan quality before they make a coverage choice for the following year. Ratings appear on the Medicare Plan Finder at medicare.gov, alongside plan details.

If you're already in a Medicare Advantage plan, there's a second window — the Medicare Advantage Open Enrollment Period, January 1 through March 31 — when you can switch Advantage plans or return to Original Medicare.

A quick Turlock snapshot

Turlock is in Stanislaus County, and Medicare Advantage and Part D plan availability is set at the county level. That means the menu of plans available to a Turlock resident is the same as for neighbors elsewhere in Stanislaus County. When you use the Medicare Plan Finder, you'll enter your ZIP code and see the plans (and their star ratings) offered where you live.

Other 2027 numbers worth knowing

While you're reviewing ratings, keep an eye on these program-level changes for 2027:

• The Part D out-of-pocket cap is $2,100 in 2026 and $2,400 in 2027. Once you hit that limit on covered drugs, you pay nothing more for covered drugs the rest of the year.
• The maximum Part D deductible is $615.
• The old "donut hole" coverage gap was eliminated in 2025; Part D now has three phases.
• The Medicare Prescription Payment Plan lets you spread drug costs across monthly payments instead of paying at the pharmacy counter.
• IRMAA surcharges (higher Part B and Part D premiums for higher incomes) start above $109,000 for a single filer in 2026.

How to use ratings without letting them decide for you

Star Ratings are a useful starting point, especially for gauging member experience and customer service. But before enrolling, check three things that ratings can't tell you: whether your doctors are in network, whether your medications are on the plan's formulary, and what the total out-of-pocket picture looks like for your situation.