Medicare Advantage

Medicare Star Ratings for 2027: Middletown, Del.

MIDDLETOWN, Del. — Each fall, just before the Medicare Annual Enrollment Period opens, the federal government publishes fresh Star Ratings for Medicare Advantage and Part D drug plans. The 2027 ratings landed this October, and if you live in Middletown and are weighing your options between now and Dec. 7, it helps to know what those little star icons on Medicare.gov actually measure — and what they don't.

Star Ratings aren't a ranking of which plan is "best." They're a report card built from dozens of measures, and they're one tool among several you can use as you compare coverage.

What the stars are actually scoring

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) rates plans on a 1-to-5 scale, with 5 being the highest. The score is an average of many separate quality measures, grouped into broad categories:

• For Medicare Advantage plans: how well the plan helps members stay healthy (screenings, vaccines, checkups), how it manages chronic conditions, member experience, member complaints, and customer service.
• For Part D drug plans: drug pricing accuracy, customer service, member complaints, and patient safety measures like safe prescribing for older adults.

If a plan combines medical and drug coverage (an MA-PD), it gets one overall rating that blends both.

Where the data comes from

Ratings aren't guesswork. CMS pulls the underlying numbers from member surveys, health record data plans submit, pharmacy data, and call-center testing. That's why the ratings released each October reflect performance from earlier measurement years — they're a look back, not a prediction.

When and where the ratings are published

CMS refreshes Star Ratings once a year in October, timed to the Annual Enrollment Period (Oct. 15 – Dec. 7). You can see each plan's stars on the official Medicare Plan Finder at Medicare.gov, right next to the plan's name.

If you're already enrolled and your plan's rating changed, you'll typically see that reflected when you log in during the enrollment window.

A local snapshot for Middletown

Middletown sits in New Castle County, and Medicare plan availability — including which Advantage and Part D plans show stars on your Plan Finder results — is set at the county level. That means two neighbors on the same street in Middletown will generally see the same slate of plans and the same star scores when they shop.

If you drive to visit family in another county or state, their options and ratings will look different, even for plans with familiar names.

What Star Ratings don't tell you

This is where a lot of people get tripped up. Stars measure plan quality overall — they do not tell you:

• Whether your specific doctors are in the network.
• Whether your prescriptions are on the plan's formulary.
• What your personal out-of-pocket costs will look like.
• Whether a plan covers extras you care about, like dental or hearing.

A high-rated plan can still be a poor fit if your cardiologist isn't in-network. A lower-rated plan might cover your drugs better. Stars are a starting point, not the finish line.

Other 2027 numbers worth knowing

While you're comparing coverage this fall, keep these program-wide figures in mind:

• Part D out-of-pocket cap: $2,100 in 2026 and $2,400 in 2027. Once your covered drug spending hits that ceiling, you pay nothing for covered drugs the rest of the year.
• Part D maximum deductible: $615 in 2026 and $700 in 2027.
• The coverage gap ("donut hole") was eliminated in 2025. Part D now has three phases instead of four.
• Medicare Prescription Payment Plan: an optional program that lets you spread drug costs across monthly payments instead of paying at the pharmacy counter.
• IRMAA (income-related surcharges): kick in above $109,000 in income for a single filer in 2026.