During this Medicare Open Enrollment season, people selecting options for 2025 can often choose among a dizzying number of Part D drug plans and private insurers’ Medicare Advantage plans . Medicare’s star ratings can help you narrow down choices—if you understand what they mean. But few people on Medicare bother to look to the stars, according to the KFF health policy research group.
“When asked whether these star ratings influenced their decision-making when choosing a plan, the majority of participants says no,” a 2023 KFF report says. They’re making a mistake. What Medicare star ratings can tell you The star ratings, which you can find in the Medicare site’s Plan Finder tool comparing Part D and Medicare Advantage (the alternative to Original Medicare) plans, offer a shorthand look at how plans measure up for quality and member experience.
“It’s an imperfect system at best, but it’s the best we’ve got,” says Dr. Sachin Jain, president and CEO of SCAN Health Plan, a large Medicare Advantage plan. In the annual ratings bestowed by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), 5 stars means excellent, 4 means above average, 3 means average, 2 means below average and 1 means poor.
On Medicare’s Plan Finder, a 5-star plan gets extra prominence: A big star with the number 5 in it. Data used to create those ratings is a bit dated—2025 ratings are based on the 2023 performance of plans, says Suzanna-Grace Tritt, a senior consulting actuary with.