The CMS quietly released highly anticipated 2026 star ratings for MA insurers. The agency normally issues a press release on the results, but has yet to do so. Operations may be hampered by the government shutdown — the HHS said communication would be affected in its contingency plan for a lapse in appropriations.
Still, the release of the 2026 data file showed weighted average stars rose slightly, from 3.96 to 3.98, according to an estimate from investment bank TD Cowen. That’s better than many industry watchers expected given regulators made the highest ratings more difficult to achieve, including by upping standards after the coronavirus pandemic and eliminating outliers from their calculations.
UnitedHealthcare and Humana, the two largest MA insurers covering 10.3 million and 5.8 million members in the program, respectively, both previewed their 2026 stars early. The final results were in line with their initial expectations, with UnitedHealthcare having more than 77% of its members in plans rated 4 stars or above next year, roughly flat compared to 2025, according to a Healthcare Dive analysis of the CMS data.
- Average Medicare Advantage star ratings for 2026 are essentially flat after a few consecutive years of declines — a good sign for the industry, which had braced itself for lower quality scores.
- Still, there was variation in major insurers’ results. The percentage of members in plans rated 4 stars or above, an important cutoff for payers, stayed stable for UnitedHealthcare, dropped for Humana and Aetna, and improved for Elevance and Centene — the five largest publicly traded payers in the privatized Medicare program.
- Perhaps the biggest loser is Clover Health. The insurer’s largest contract covering almost all of its MA members dropped below 4 stars — a slip that could cost Clover tens of millions of dollars in earnings, analysts estimate.