Medicare Advantage

Medicare Star Ratings 2027: San Antonio, TX

Bexar County has 98 Medicare Advantage plans for 2027. Compared with 2026, 28 plans are not coming back, 26 are new, and 36 continuing plans changed in some way you should check before December 7, 11 of them under a new name. This guide covers what those numbers mean for San Antonio, not which plan to pick.

SAN ANTONIO — With the fall release of Medicare's 2027 Star Ratings now posted at Medicare.gov, San Antonio residents comparing coverage during the Annual Enrollment Period have a fresh piece of information to work with. The ratings arrive each October, just ahead of the October 15–December 7 window, and they're designed to give people a plain-language snapshot of how Medicare Advantage and Part D plans have performed on quality measures over the past year.

Here's what the ratings actually measure, how to read them, and where they fit into a smart enrollment decision.

What Star Ratings actually measure

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) rates Medicare Advantage and Part D plans on a 1-to-5 scale, with 5 being the highest. The score is not a review of price or benefits. It's a measure of quality and service.

For Medicare Advantage plans, CMS looks at up to about 40 different measures grouped into categories like:

• Staying healthy (screenings, tests, vaccines)
• Managing chronic conditions
• Member experience and complaints
• Customer service responsiveness
• Plan performance on appeals

For standalone Part D drug plans, the ratings focus on drug safety, pricing accuracy, customer service, and member complaints.

The idea is simple: if a plan has been slow to answer calls, denies appeals often, or lags on preventive care, its stars will reflect that.

When the ratings drop and where to find them

CMS publishes the new Star Ratings each October, before the Annual Enrollment Period (AEP) begins on October 15. You can look them up for free on the Medicare Plan Finder at Medicare.gov. When you compare plans there, each one displays its current star score alongside coverage details.

Ratings can shift year to year, so a plan's 2026 score may not match its 2027 score. That's why it's worth checking again during open enrollment, even if you looked last year.

How San Antonio fits in

San Antonio is in Bexar County, where dozens of Medicare Advantage and Part D plans are available to people enrolled in Medicare. Availability is determined at the county level — not by ZIP code or city — so two neighbors on opposite sides of a Bexar County line could technically see different plan menus.

Star Ratings themselves are not local. They're calculated at the contract level, meaning the same plan carries the same rating whether you live in San Antonio, Dallas, or Amarillo. What varies locally is which plans are offered in Bexar County in the first place.

How to use ratings without making a common mistake

The most common mistake we see: treating stars as the only factor. A 5-star rating doesn't automatically mean a plan fits your budget, your doctors, or your prescriptions. And a 3-star plan isn't automatically wrong for you — it may cover the specialists you already see or the medications you already take.

A smarter approach:

1. Start with your needs — your doctors, your drug list, and your travel patterns. 2. Narrow to plans that cover those needs in Bexar County. 3. Then use Star Ratings as a tiebreaker for service quality.

Stars measure the plan's track record. They don't predict your personal experience.

Why this year's ratings matter more than usual

2027 brings continued changes to Part D that will affect how people use their coverage:

• The Part D out-of-pocket cap is $2,100 in 2026 and $2,400 in 2027. Once you hit that amount, you pay nothing for covered drugs the rest of the year.
• The Part D maximum deductible is $615 in 2026 and $700 in 2027.
• The coverage gap ("donut hole") is gone as of 2025 — Part D now has three phases instead of four.
• The Medicare Prescription Payment Plan lets you spread drug costs across monthly installments instead of paying big amounts at the pharmacy counter.
• IRMAA surcharges on Part B and Part D start above $109,000 in income for a single filer in 2026.

With drug pricing rules changing, plan operations — call center wait times, appeal turnaround, pharmacy pricing accuracy — will be tested. That's exactly what Star Ratings track.

Deadlines to keep in mind

• October 15 – December 7: Annual Enrollment Period. Change your Medicare Advantage or Part D plan for coverage starting January 1.
• January 1 – March 31: Medicare Advantage Open Enrollment. If you're already in a Medicare Advantage plan, you get one chance to switch to another MA plan or return to Original Medicare.