Four more Medicare Advantage prescription drug plans have received five-star ratings thanks to CMS’ recalculation.
CMS initially unveiled 2026 MA star ratings in October, with 18 MA-PD contracts scoring five stars overall.
On July 22, CMS released updated 2026 Medicare Advantage star ratings. The recalculation comes in the fallout of Clover Health’s lawsuit challenging the rating for its largest MA contract. The judge partially sided with Clover and called for a recalculation, and CMS voluntarily reevaluated other plans, as well. CMS appealed the Clover judgment one day prior to releasing the industry’s modified ratings.
Elevance Health sued CMS in July due to differences between Clover’s and the other plans’ recalculations. SCAN Health Plan and Alignment Health also filed lawsuits, requesting CMS to revisit the recalculations. SCAN and Alignment each sought a bump from four to 4.5 stars.
In a July 21 letter to MA organizations, CMS said ratings stayed the same for 61%, increased for 9% and declined for 30% of contracts. The agency did not change ratings for plans that had worse performance in the latest review. The threshold for MA plans earning additional payments is four out of five stars. Top plans get their own perks, though, such as special enrollment period privileges and further rebate benefits.
CMS clarified to Becker’s that it only updated overall ratings, not the separate Parts C and D summary ratings, on the plan finder.
Here are the four contracts joining the five-star club:
Renown Health
- Hometown Health Plan (Senior Care Plus) — Contract H2960
Rifkin Managed Care Holding
- Provider Partners Health Plan of Texas — Contract H4054
- Provider Partners Health Plan of Pennsylvania — Contract H4093
Longevity Health Founders
- Longevity Health Plan of New Jersey Insurance Co. — Contract H9942
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