Medicare Advantage

Before AEP in Sun City Center: what those Medicare star ratings actually grade

People in Sun City Center can choose from 124 Medicare Advantage plans for 2027, against 133 this year. 29 of this year’s plans are gone, 20 are new to Hillsborough County, and 51 that continue have changed their premium, deductible, plan type or name, 19 of them under a new name.

Medicare AdvantageSun City Center, FL

SUN CITY CENTER, Fla. — With the Annual Enrollment Period opening October 15, many retirees here are about to see a familiar sight on medicare.gov: rows of Medicare plans with a small string of stars next to them. Those ratings are refreshed by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) every fall, and they are worth understanding before you start comparing coverage — not because they pick a plan for you, but because they tell you something specific about how a plan has performed.

Sun City Center sits in Hillsborough County, where the plans you can shop during AEP are set at the county level. That means neighbors just across a county line may see a slightly different lineup. But the star system itself works the same way everywhere.

What a star rating actually measures

Star ratings are CMS's way of grading how a Medicare Advantage or Part D plan performed over the previous measurement year. They are scored on a scale of one to five stars, with five being the highest.

For Medicare Advantage plans that include health coverage, CMS looks at categories such as:

• Staying healthy (screenings, tests and vaccines members receive)
• Managing chronic conditions
• Member experience with the plan
• Member complaints and changes in performance
• Customer service

For Part D drug coverage, CMS looks at drug pricing accuracy, patient safety, member experience and complaints, among other measures.

What star ratings do not measure is equally important: they are not a measure of premium, deductible, network size, or whether a specific medication is on a plan's list of covered drugs.

Why the fall timing matters

CMS publishes updated star ratings each October, right before AEP begins on October 15. That timing is intentional — it gives people shopping for 2027 coverage a fresh look at how plans have been performing.

You'll see the stars displayed on the Medicare Plan Finder at medicare.gov when you compare plans in the Hillsborough County ZIP codes that cover Sun City Center (33573, 33571 and neighboring areas). The ratings sit next to each plan name.

Because the scores are refreshed annually, a plan's star rating can go up or down from one year to the next. A rating you remember from last fall is not necessarily the rating you'll see this fall.

How to use ratings without letting them decide for you

Think of star ratings as one input, not the answer. A high rating tells you a plan has done well on the measures CMS tracks. It does not tell you whether:

• Your primary care doctor or specialists are in-network
• The hospitals you use participate with the plan
• Your prescriptions are on the plan's formulary at a tier you can afford
• The plan offers extras that matter to your household

For Sun City Center residents who split time between Florida and another state, network questions can matter as much as any rating. Snowbirds, in particular, should confirm how a plan handles care outside the service area.

The 2026–2027 backdrop worth knowing

Star ratings are landing during a year with real changes to Part D drug coverage. The out-of-pocket cap on Part D drug spending is $2,100 in 2026 and $2,400 in 2027, and the maximum Part D deductible is $615 in 2026 and $700 in 2027. The old "donut hole" coverage gap was eliminated in 2025, leaving three payment phases instead of four.

The Medicare Prescription Payment Plan, which lets you spread your drug costs across the calendar year in monthly installments, is also available if it fits your situation. And higher-income enrollees should note that IRMAA surcharges — extra amounts added to Part B and Part D premiums — begin above $109,000 in income for a single filer in 2026.

None of these figures are reflected in a star rating. They're program-wide rules that apply regardless of which plan you choose.

Key dates for Sun City Center

• October 15 – December 7: Annual Enrollment Period. You can join, switch or drop a Medicare Advantage or Part D plan for 2027.
• January 1 – March 31: Medicare Advantage Open Enrollment Period. If you're already in a Medicare Advantage plan, you get one chance to switch to another Advantage plan or return to Original Medicare.