Medicare Part D

Medicare Star Ratings 2027: Grand Island, Neb.

GRAND ISLAND, Neb. — As the Medicare Annual Enrollment Period runs from Oct. 15 through Dec. 7, Nebraskans comparing coverage are seeing something familiar on Medicare.gov: little rows of stars next to each plan. Those Star Ratings, updated by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) each fall, are one of the few standardized quality signals in Medicare — and they matter as beneficiaries also navigate the Part D out-of-pocket cap, which is $2,100 in 2026 and $2,400 in 2027.

Here is what the ratings actually measure, when they publish, and how to use them without getting misled.

What Star Ratings Are — and Aren't

CMS rates Medicare Advantage (Part C) and stand-alone Part D prescription drug plans on a scale of 1 to 5 stars, with 5 being the highest. The ratings are meant to reflect quality and performance, not price. A plan with a high premium can have low stars, and a low-premium plan can have high stars — the two are not linked.

Star Ratings are not a personalized recommendation. They tell you how a plan performed overall for its members last year. They do not tell you whether your doctor is in-network, whether your prescriptions are covered, or how the plan will fit your budget.

What the Stars Actually Measure

For Medicare Advantage plans that include drug coverage, CMS looks at roughly 40 different measures. For stand-alone Part D plans, it's about a dozen. Broadly, the measures fall into these buckets:

• Staying healthy: Whether members get recommended screenings, vaccines, and checkups.
• Managing chronic conditions: How well the plan supports people with diabetes, high blood pressure, and similar ongoing needs.
• Member experience: Survey responses about ease of getting care, customer service, and overall satisfaction.
• Member complaints and plan changes: How often people leave the plan or file complaints.
• Customer service: Timeliness of appeals decisions and call-center performance.
• Drug safety and pricing accuracy: For plans with Part D, whether the plan prices drugs correctly and helps members use medications safely.

CMS combines these into a single overall star score for each contract.

When the 2027 Ratings Publish

CMS releases the new Star Ratings each October, just before the Annual Enrollment Period opens. The 2027 ratings — meaning the ones you'll see on Medicare.gov this fall for plans sold for coverage starting Jan. 1, 2027 — are based on data mostly collected during 2025. That lag is normal; quality measurement takes time.

Once posted, the ratings appear on the official Plan Finder at Medicare.gov, next to each plan name.

Grand Island and Hall County

Plan choices in Grand Island are set at the county level. Grand Island is in Hall County, where beneficiaries typically see a range of Medicare Advantage and stand-alone Part D options each year, each carrying its own star rating. The number of plans available and their ratings can shift from one plan year to the next, so it's worth checking the current list on Medicare.gov during AEP rather than assuming last year's landscape still applies.

Star Ratings alone shouldn't drive the decision. A 4-star plan that doesn't include your cardiologist or your specific medication may serve you worse than a 3.5-star plan that does.

Why the Ratings Matter in 2027

Two big Part D changes are now fully in effect and worth knowing as you weigh coverage:

• The Part D annual out-of-pocket cap, which is $2,100 in 2026 and $2,400 in 2027.
• The Part D maximum deductible, which is $615 for 2026 and $700 for 2027.
• The old "donut hole" coverage gap has been eliminated as of 2025, leaving a simpler three-phase drug benefit.
• The optional Medicare Prescription Payment Plan lets you spread your out-of-pocket drug costs across monthly payments instead of paying large sums at the pharmacy counter.

With drug costs restructured, the quality of a plan's pharmacy operations — accurate pricing, appeals handling, medication safety — carries more weight. Those are exactly the areas Star Ratings try to measure.

Also worth noting for higher-income households: IRMAA surcharges (extra premiums for Part B and Part D) begin above $109,000 in income for a single filer in 2026. Star Ratings do not factor income into anything; IRMAA is a separate calculation done by Social Security.

How to Use Star Ratings the Right Way

Think of stars as one input, not the answer. A reasonable approach:

1. Start with what you need — your doctors, your prescriptions, and the pharmacies near you. 2. Use Medicare.gov's Plan Finder to see which plans in Hall County cover those. 3. Then look at Star Ratings to compare quality among the plans that already meet your needs. 4. If you missed AEP, remember the Medicare Advantage Open Enrollment Period runs Jan. 1 – March 31, when you can switch MA plans or return to Original Medicare.