Medicare Advantage

Behind the stars: what CMS actually scores each fall

For 2027, Bellevue is looking at 59 Medicare Advantage plans: 18 new, 27 gone since 2026, and 31 still here but changed on premium, deductible, plan type or name, 10 of them under a new name. Below, how the lineup shifted in King County and what to compare, with no plan ranked or recommended.

BELLEVUE, Wash. — Every fall, just before Medicare's Annual Enrollment Period opens, the federal government publishes something called Star Ratings for Medicare Advantage and Part D drug plans. The 2027 ratings are landing now, ahead of the Oct. 15 enrollment window, and they're getting a lot of attention in mailers and TV ads. But the scores are often misunderstood. They don't rank plans against each other, and they aren't a shopping shortcut. They measure something more specific — and knowing what's inside the number helps you use it well.

What the Star Ratings actually are

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) rates most Medicare Advantage and stand-alone Part D plans on a scale of 1 to 5 stars, with 5 being the highest. The ratings come out each October, right before the Annual Enrollment Period that runs Oct. 15 through Dec. 7.

The point is to give people a consistent way to look at plan quality. Every plan is measured against the same yardstick, using the same data sources, over the same time period.

What goes into the score

The rating is not one number pulled from thin air. It's a weighted average of dozens of individual measures. For 2027, those fall into a few broad areas:

• Staying healthy: whether members get recommended screenings, vaccines, and check-ups.
• Managing chronic conditions: how well the plan supports people with diabetes, heart disease, and similar concerns.
• Member experience: what members say in surveys about getting care and getting appointments.
• Member complaints and plan performance: how often people leave the plan, and how CMS itself audits the plan.
• Customer service: how the plan handles calls, appeals, and new-member questions.

Part D drug plans (and the drug portion of Medicare Advantage plans) are also scored on drug safety, pricing accuracy, and how well members stick with important medications.

How the ratings are published

CMS posts the ratings on medicare.gov's Plan Finder each fall. When you look up plans in your area, you'll see a star icon next to each one. You can click through to see the sub-scores that built the overall number.

The ratings are refreshed once a year. That means the 2027 ratings you see this fall reflect data collected during earlier measurement years — they're a look back, not a prediction.

Why the timing matters this year

The 2027 Star Ratings are landing during a year with continued changes on the drug-benefit side. The Part D out-of-pocket cap is $2,100 in 2026 and $2,400 in 2027, and the Part D maximum deductible is $700 in 2027. The old coverage gap (the "donut hole") is fully gone — Part D now runs in three phases. There's also the Medicare Prescription Payment Plan, an optional program that lets you spread drug costs across the year instead of paying big bills in one month.

Star Ratings don't tell you any of that directly. But because drug-related measures are part of the score, how a plan handles medication safety and accuracy shows up in the stars.

What Star Ratings are not

This is where a lot of marketing crosses a line. Star Ratings are a quality measure, not a ranking of the "best" plans. CMS doesn't name winners. A high-star plan isn't automatically right for you — it might not include your doctor, cover your prescriptions the way you need, or fit your budget. And a lower-star plan isn't automatically wrong for you either.

Use the stars as one input among several: network, drug coverage, total costs, and how the plan actually works where you live.

Bellevue and King County

Bellevue is in King County, where Medicare Advantage and Part D options are set at the county level. That means the plans available to you — and their Star Ratings — depend on your ZIP code and county, not the city name. When you compare on medicare.gov, enter your ZIP code to see the accurate list for your address.

If you'd rather talk to a person, Washington runs a free counseling program called SHIBA (Statewide Health Insurance Benefits Advisors), the state's SHIP. Counselors don't sell plans; they help you read the ratings and compare options.