➤ What are the top rated Medicare Advantage plans?
Eighteen Medicare Advantage contracts currently hold an overall rating of five stars, out of 516 contracts CMS evaluated. Devoted Health holds three of them, in Florida, North Carolina and Texas. Elevance Health also holds three, UnitedHealth Group and Alignment Healthcare hold two each, and the remainder are single contracts held by regional insurers including Independent Health in New York, Leon Health in Florida and Georgia Assurance. Whether any of them is available to you depends entirely on your county.
➤ How many 5-star Medicare Advantage plans are there?
Eighteen contracts hold an overall five-star rating, which is about 3.5% of the 516 Medicare Advantage contracts CMS rated. That is a substantial increase from the seven contracts rated five stars the previous year, even though the average rating across the whole market fell from 3.92 to 3.65 over the same period. The next set of ratings publishes in October 2026 for the 2027 plan year, and the list will change.
➤ Can I switch to a 5-star plan at any time?
Close to it. The 5-Star Special Enrollment Period runs from December 8 through November 30 of the following year, and lets you move into a five-star plan available in your area outside the normal enrollment windows. You can use it once per plan year, and coverage begins the first of the month after your request is received. It is open to people currently in a Medicare Advantage plan, a standalone drug plan, or Original Medicare. The limitation is availability, since most areas have no five-star plan on offer.
➤ What do Medicare star ratings actually measure?
Roughly 40 individual measures across five groups: preventive care such as screenings and vaccinations, management of chronic conditions, member experience from satisfaction surveys, customer service and complaint handling, and drug plan performance for plans that include Part D. Notably absent are premium, out-of-pocket maximum, dental allowance and network breadth. A five-star plan is a plan that scores well on quality and service, not necessarily one that is cheap or that your doctor accepts.
➤ Which carrier has the best Medicare Advantage star ratings?
By share of members in plans rated four stars or higher, Kaiser Permanente and Alignment Healthcare both sit at 100%. Aetna follows with more than 81% of members in 4+ star plans and more than 63% in 4.5+ star plans, then UnitedHealthcare at 78% and 40% respectively. Elevance Health is at 55%, up sharply from 40% the prior year. Humana and Centene both sit near 20%, well below their peers. These are company averages and say nothing about the specific plan available in your county.
➤ Is a 5-star plan always the best choice?
No. Star ratings measure quality and service, not cost or network. A five-star plan that excludes your cardiologist, does not cover your medication, or carries a high out-of-pocket maximum is a worse choice for you than a four-star plan that gets all three right. The sensible order is to narrow your options on doctors, prescriptions and the out-of-pocket maximum first, then use the star rating to choose between plans that already work.
➤ Why did the average Medicare Advantage star rating drop?
The average overall rating fell from 3.92 to 3.65 because CMS tightened its measurement standards, raising the thresholds plans must clear on individual measures. The effect was uneven: the middle of the market lost ground while a small group of high performers pulled ahead, which is why the number of five-star contracts more than doubled in the same year the average fell. This matters commercially, because contracts rated four stars and above earn bonus payments and those below do not.
➤ Does a low star rating mean my plan might be discontinued?
It raises the odds. Contracts rated four stars and above earn bonus payments from Medicare, and contracts below that do not, which makes lower-rated plans less profitable and the first candidates for consolidation. Carriers reducing their footprints for 2027 have pointed to lower-rated plans as the primary targets. That is a pattern rather than a rule, and it does not tell you about your specific plan. Your Annual Notice of Change, mailed by September 30, is the document that does.
➤ When do the 2027 Medicare Advantage star ratings come out?
October 2026, alongside the full 2027 plan data that publishes October 1. The timing works in your favour, because the new ratings land just before Annual Enrollment opens on October 15. Any plan currently rated five stars could gain or lose stars at that point, and plans not on the current list could join it, so treat today’s list as the most recent confirmed picture rather than a prediction of 2027.
➤ How do I find the star rating for a plan in my area?
Ratings are shown alongside each plan in the official Medicare plan finder and on plan documents, listed against the contract rather than the marketing name. Because a carrier can hold a five-star contract in one state and a three-star contract in another, look up the rating attached to the exact plan offered in your county rather than relying on the company’s national reputation or on a list compiled for a different market.
