The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) uses information from member satisfaction surveys, plans, and health care providers to give overall performance or "Star Ratings" to Medicare Part D prescription drug plans and Medicare Advantage plans.  However, the Medicare plan must be operating for some time so that CMS can calculate the Star Ratings - this means that Medicare plans that are new to the market will not have a CMS rating.

A Medicare plan can receive a rating from one to five stars. A 5-star rating is considered excellent. The overall plan's Star Rating gives you a single summary score that makes it easier to compare plans based on quality and performance.  In short, Star Ratings help Medicare beneficiaries like you compare different Medicare plans based on plan quality and performance.

☆               means poor performance
☆☆            means below average performance
☆☆☆         means average performance
☆☆☆☆      means above average performance
☆☆☆☆☆   means excellent performance

If a Medicare plan has a consistently poor Star Ratings, CMS may terminate the contract or penalize the plan.

For more information, please see our section: "Understanding the Medicare Star Quality Ratings - 2024"

Visit the Medicare Plan Finder Tool on www.MyMedicare.gov to learn more about Medicare plans and see their ratings.  When available, we also include Start Ratings in our Medicare Part D plan finder PDP-Finder and Medicare Advantage plan finder MA-Finder to help you review plans and plan ratings.

Star Rating example: California Medicare Part D prescription drug plans

Star Rating example: Broward County, Florida Medicare Advantage Plans

You can read more details on the Medicare Part D plan ratings in our articles:  Star Ratings & Plan Quality