Medicare Advantage

How CMS Sets Medicare Star Ratings for Issaquah Plans

King County has 59 Medicare Advantage plans for 2027. Compared with 2026, 27 plans are not coming back, 18 are new, and 31 continuing plans changed in some way you should check before December 7, 10 of them under a new name. This guide covers what those numbers mean for Issaquah, not which plan to pick.

Issaquah, Washington — As fall settles into the Issaquah Highlands and Medicare's Annual Enrollment Period approaches on October 15, a familiar set of numbers is about to reappear on Medicare.gov: the Star Ratings. Each October, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) refreshes these one-to-five-star scores for Medicare Advantage and Part D drug plans, giving people a shared yardstick to look at before they make coverage decisions for the coming year.

Here is a plain-language guide to what those stars actually measure, when they are published, and how to use them without getting steered.

What Star Ratings Actually Measure

Star Ratings are CMS's quality report card for Medicare Advantage (Part C) and stand-alone Part D drug plans. They are not a price tag, and they are not a marketing badge — they are a summary of how a plan performed across dozens of measures over the prior year.

Broadly, the ratings pull from five areas for Medicare Advantage plans:

• Staying healthy — screenings, vaccines, and preventive checkups members received.
• Managing chronic conditions — how well the plan supports people living with things like diabetes or heart disease.
• Member experience — survey feedback from people actually enrolled in the plan.
• Member complaints and changes in performance — how often people leave, complain, or have problems getting care.
• Customer service — how the plan handles appeals, calls, and requests for information.

Stand-alone Part D drug plans are rated on a similar but shorter list focused on drug pricing accuracy, safety, member experience, and customer service.

Each measure is scored, weighted, and rolled up into a single overall rating from one star (poor) to five stars (excellent).

When the 2027 Ratings Come Out

CMS publishes the new Star Ratings each October on Medicare.gov, timed so they are visible before the Annual Enrollment Period (AEP) begins on October 15 and runs through December 7. When you use the Plan Finder tool at Medicare.gov during that window, the star score you see next to a plan is the one CMS just released for the 2027 plan year.

If you want to double-check ratings for any plan available where you live, the official source is the Medicare Plan Finder at Medicare.gov.

How the Ratings Are Used — and Where They Stop

Star Ratings are useful because they let you compare quality on the same scale across every plan. But there are real limits worth understanding:

• They are backward-looking. A rating published this fall is based on data from prior years. Plan networks, drug lists, and costs for the new year can look different.
• They do not measure your doctor. Ratings score the plan overall, not whether your specific physicians or pharmacies are in network.
• They do not measure price. A higher-rated plan is not automatically cheaper, and a lower-rated plan is not automatically more expensive.

Think of Star Ratings as one input among several — alongside your prescriptions, your providers, and your budget.

The Local Picture in Issaquah

Issaquah sits in King County, where Medicare plan availability is set at the county level. That means every Medicare Advantage and Part D plan offered in King County appears in the Plan Finder for an Issaquah ZIP code, each with its own star score attached. Availability and ratings can shift year to year, which is exactly why CMS refreshes the scoreboard every October before AEP opens.

Other 2027 Changes Worth Knowing

While you are reviewing plans this fall, a few program-wide facts for 2027 are helpful context:

• Part D out-of-pocket cap: $2,100 in 2026 and $2,400 in 2027. Once you hit it, you pay nothing for covered drugs the rest of the year.
• Part D maximum deductible: $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.
• Medicare Prescription Payment Plan: an optional program that lets you spread drug costs into monthly payments instead of paying at the pharmacy counter.
• IRMAA surcharges (higher Part B and Part D premiums for higher earners) begin above $109,000 in income for a single filer in 2026.
• Medicare Advantage Open Enrollment runs January 1 – March 31 if you enroll in an Advantage plan and want a second look.

How to Use Star Ratings Without Getting Steered

A practical approach:

1. Start at Medicare.gov and enter your ZIP code and your prescriptions. 2. Look at the star score next to each plan — but also look at the details underneath. A plan can score well overall while being weaker in an area that matters to you (say, customer service or drug pricing). 3. Confirm your doctors, hospitals, and pharmacies before enrolling. 4. If anything is confusing, call 1-800-MEDICARE or Washington's Statewide Health Insurance Benefits Advisors (SHIBA) — the state's SHIP program — for free, unbiased help.