Medicare Advantage

Behind the stars: what Medicare's 2027 ratings actually grade in Elyria

ELYRIA, Ohio — Every October, just before the Medicare Annual Enrollment Period opens, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) releases fresh Star Ratings for Medicare Advantage and Part D drug plans. The 2027 ratings will land this fall, and if you live in Lorain County you will start seeing them on plan pages at Medicare.gov. Before you let a number of stars carry too much weight, it helps to know what those stars are actually measuring — and what they are not.

What the stars actually measure

Star Ratings are CMS's way of grading how well a Medicare Advantage or Part D plan performed over the prior year. Plans are scored from 1 star (poor) to 5 stars (excellent), and the overall rating is built from dozens of individual measures rolled into broad categories.

For Medicare Advantage plans with drug coverage, those categories generally include:

• Staying healthy — screenings, tests and vaccines members received.
• Managing chronic conditions — how well the plan supports people with ongoing health issues.
• Member experience — survey answers about care and the plan itself.
• Member complaints and changes in performance — how often people leave, complain or have problems getting care.
• Customer service — call center accuracy, appeals handling and access.
• Drug plan measures — safe prescribing, medication adherence and pricing accuracy.

Notice what is missing from that list: monthly premium, deductible, copays, network size, and the specific extras a plan advertises. Stars are about quality and service, not cost.

When and where the 2027 ratings appear

CMS traditionally posts the new ratings in October, timed so they are live on Medicare.gov's Plan Finder when the Annual Enrollment Period opens on October 15. You will see them displayed as a number of stars next to each plan name when you compare options online. The same ratings are used through the plan year that follows.

If you are shopping in Lorain County this fall, the ratings on the plans you see will be the 2027 numbers, based largely on data collected during earlier plan years.

Why stars are useful — and where they fall short

A Star Rating is a snapshot. It tells you how a plan performed on measurable things in the past. That is genuinely useful information, especially for customer service and drug safety, and it is one of the few apples-to-apples signals available across plans.

But the rating cannot answer the questions that usually matter most to an individual:

• Are my doctors and the Elyria-area hospitals I use in the network?
• Are my specific prescriptions on the formulary, and in which tier?
• What will my total out-of-pocket costs look like in 2027?
• Do the extra benefits fit my life?

Two plans with the same star count can look very different once you check those details. And a plan's rating can shift up or down from one year to the next.

How to use ratings alongside the other 2027 facts

Star Ratings are one input. Other 2027 program facts worth keeping in mind as you compare:

• The Part D annual out-of-pocket cap on covered drugs is $2,100 in 2026 and $2,400 in 2027.
• The Part D maximum deductible is $615 in 2026 and $700 in 2027.
• The old coverage gap ("donut hole") is gone; Part D now has three phases.
• The Medicare Prescription Payment Plan lets you spread drug costs across the year in monthly installments if you choose to opt in.
• IRMAA surcharges on Part B and Part D begin above $109,000 in income for a single filer in 2026.
• Annual Enrollment runs Oct. 15 – Dec. 7. The Medicare Advantage Open Enrollment Period runs Jan. 1 – March 31 for people already in a Medicare Advantage plan.

Put together, that means the stars are the "how well did this plan run" number, while the figures above shape your actual costs.

A quick, plain checklist for Elyria readers

• Look up your current plan's 2027 rating on Medicare.gov when it posts in October.
• Compare it against how you experienced the plan in 2026 — the stars should ring true or raise a question.
• Check drug and doctor coverage separately; ratings do not do this for you.
• If anything is unclear, get free one-on-one help before Dec. 7.