Medicare Advantage

CMS Star Ratings for Medicare in Marion 2027

MARION, Ind. — As fall enrollment gets underway, Medicare's Star Ratings for 2027 are back in the spotlight. The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) publishes these ratings every October, right before the Annual Enrollment Period begins. But here at MyMedicarePlans.org, we hear the same question from readers in Grant County every year: what do those little stars actually mean?

The short answer is that Star Ratings are a quality measure — not a ranking, not a scoreboard, and not a shopping shortcut. Here is what they measure, when they come out, and how to use them without making a common mistake.

When the 2027 ratings come out

CMS posts the new Star Ratings on the Medicare Plan Finder at medicare.gov each October. That timing is intentional. It gives beneficiaries a chance to review plan quality information before the Annual Enrollment Period runs from October 15 through December 7.

If you live in Marion, you will see the updated stars when you look up plans by ZIP code. Marion is in Grant County, where plan availability — and the ratings for those plans — is set at the county level.

What the stars actually measure

Star Ratings are built from dozens of separate quality measures. For Medicare Advantage plans that include drug coverage, CMS looks at things like:

• Staying healthy: screenings, tests, and vaccines members receive.
• Managing chronic conditions: how well the plan helps people with diabetes, heart disease, and similar concerns.
• Member experience: survey results on ease of getting care and appointments.
• Member complaints and changes in performance: how often people leave the plan, complaints filed, and whether performance is improving.
• Customer service: how the plan handles appeals and calls.

For stand-alone Part D drug plans, CMS focuses on drug pricing accuracy, patient safety, member complaints, and customer service.

Each measure gets a score, and those scores roll up into an overall rating from 1 star (poor) to 5 stars (excellent).

Why this is not a ranking

This is where readers sometimes trip up. A 4-star plan is not automatically "better for you" than a 3-star plan. Star Ratings measure how a plan performs across its whole membership — not whether the plan covers your specific doctor, your prescriptions, or the hospital you prefer.

Two people in the same neighborhood can look at the same 4-star plan and have very different experiences based on which providers they see and which drugs they take. That is why CMS presents ratings as one piece of information, not a recommendation.

How to use ratings the right way

Think of Star Ratings as a starting filter, not a finish line. A reasonable approach:

1. Look at the overall star rating for context on quality and service. 2. Then check the details that matter to you personally — provider networks, drug formularies, and pharmacy access. 3. Compare that against the program-level rules that apply to everyone: the Part D out-of-pocket cap is $2,100 in 2026 and $2,400 in 2027, the maximum Part D deductible is $615 in 2026 and $700 in 2027, and the Medicare Prescription Payment Plan remains an option to spread drug costs across the year.

If your income is above $109,000 as a single filer in 2026, remember IRMAA surcharges may apply to your Part B and Part D premiums — separate from anything Star Ratings tell you.

A quick note on timing

The Annual Enrollment Period runs October 15 through December 7 for changes that take effect January 1. If you are already in a Medicare Advantage plan, the Medicare Advantage Open Enrollment Period gives you one more window — January 1 through March 31 — to switch to a different Advantage plan or return to Original Medicare.