Medicare Part D

Medicare Star Ratings 2027: Manchester, N.H.

Manchester, N.H. — As the Medicare Annual Enrollment Period runs through Dec. 7, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services has once again published its annual Star Ratings for Medicare Advantage and Part D plans for the 2027 plan year. If you've been on Medicare.gov this fall, you've probably noticed those little star icons next to plan names — and wondered what they actually mean.

Here's a plain-language look at what Star Ratings measure, when they come out, and how to use them as one piece of your decision — not the whole thing.

What Star Ratings actually measure

CMS rates Medicare Advantage and Part D plans on a 1-to-5 scale, with 5 being the highest. The score isn't about price or how many benefits a plan advertises. It's a measure of quality and performance based on dozens of individual measures rolled into an overall number.

Broadly, ratings look at things like:

• 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 conditions.
• Member experience — survey results on how members rate their plan and their care.
• Member complaints and changes in performance — including how often people choose to leave the plan.
• Customer service — including how quickly appeals and calls are handled.
• Drug plan performance — accuracy of pricing, safe prescribing, and medication adherence for Part D.

The overall star number is a weighted average of all those pieces. A 3.5-star plan isn't "bad" — it's average-to-above-average — but a higher number generally reflects stronger measured performance across those categories.

When the ratings come out each fall

CMS releases new Star Ratings in early October, just ahead of the Annual Enrollment Period, which runs October 15 through December 7. The ratings for the upcoming plan year (in this case, 2027) are what you'll see attached to each plan when you compare options on Medicare.gov.

If you make a change during AEP, your new coverage begins January 1, 2027. If you're already in a Medicare Advantage plan and want to switch after that, the Medicare Advantage Open Enrollment Period runs January 1 – March 31, giving you one more chance to change or drop MA coverage.

What's changing on the cost side for 2027

Star Ratings are only part of the picture. A few program-level changes matter for every Medicare beneficiary next year:

• Part D out-of-pocket cap: $2,100 in 2026 and $2,400 in 2027. Once your covered drug spending hits that limit, you pay nothing more for the rest of the year on covered drugs.
• Part D maximum deductible: $615 in 2026 and $700 in 2027.
• The coverage gap ("donut hole") is gone. Since 2025, Part D has three phases instead of four.
• Medicare Prescription Payment Plan: an optional program that lets you spread your out-of-pocket drug costs into monthly payments across the year, at no added cost.
• IRMAA surcharges for higher-income beneficiaries kick in above $109,000 in income for a single filer in 2026.

None of those figures are affected by a plan's Star Rating — they apply program-wide.

Manchester and Hillsborough County: how availability works

Plan availability in New Hampshire is set at the county level, not the city level. Manchester is in Hillsborough County. The carriers listed below reflect the 2026 lineup CMS approved for that county; the 2027 lineup appears in each plan's Annual Notice of Change and on Medicare.gov's Plan Finder.

That means two neighbors in Manchester will see the same plan menu, but someone across the state line in Massachusetts — or even in a neighboring New Hampshire county — could see a different lineup. When you use the Plan Finder at Medicare.gov, always enter your ZIP code so the tool pulls the correct county-level options.

How to actually use Star Ratings

Star Ratings are useful, but they're not a shopping shortcut. A few honest ways to think about them:

• Use them as one factor, not the only factor. A plan's rating tells you about measured quality. It doesn't tell you whether your doctor is in-network, whether your medications are covered, or what your total out-of-pocket costs might be.
• Look under the hood. On Medicare.gov, you can click a plan's star number and see the sub-scores. If member experience matters most to you, look at that category specifically.
• Check every year. Ratings can move up or down. A plan that scored well two years ago may look different for 2027.
• Consider stability. CMS also reports how ratings have trended over time, which can be a useful signal.