Medicare Blog

how are medicare star ratings determined

by Karine Sawayn Published 2 years ago Updated 1 year ago
image

Star ratings are based on many factors, including:

  • Quality of services based on more than 30 Medicare Part C and Part D measures
  • Member surveys administered by Medicare-approved vendors
  • Information from doctors
  • Information we report to CMS
  • Results from Medicare's monitoring activities

Medicare uses information from member satisfaction surveys, plans, and health care providers to give overall performance star ratings to plans. A plan can get a rating between 1 and 5 stars. A 5-star rating is considered excellent. These ratings help you compare plans based on quality and performance.

Full Answer

What is Medicare 5 star rating system?

Part C) and Medicare Part D Star Ratings each year to measure the quality of health and drug services received by consumers enrolled in Medicare Advantage (MA) and Prescription Drug Plans (PDPs or Part D plans). The Star Rating system helps Medicare consumers compare the quality of Medicare health and drug plans being offered.

Why are Medicare star ratings important?

How are star ratings determined? Star ratings are based on many factors, including: Quality of services based on more than 30 Medicare Part C and Part D measures; Member surveys administered by Medicare-approved vendors; Information from doctors; Information we report to CMS; Results from Medicare's monitoring activities

What do Medicare star ratings mean?

Dec 02, 2020 · CMS created the Five-Star Quality Rating System to help consumers, their families, and caregivers compare nursing homes more easily and to help identify areas about which you may want to ask questions. The Nursing Home Care Compare web site features a quality rating system that gives each nursing home a rating of between 1 and 5 stars. Nursing homes with 5 …

What is the best Medicare plan?

For the Overall Star Rating, Z-scores were produced by subtracting the national mean score from each hospital’s measure score and dividing that by the standard deviation across hospitals. Standard deviation is a number that measures how far …

image

How are star ratings determined?

Summary star ratings are an average of a provider's question level star ratings. Patient star ratings are calculated by dividing the patient's aggregate mean score by 20. For clients using only one question in the patient star rating, the star rating would simply be the individual question score, divided by 20.

Who sets the Medicare star ratings?

Medicare Star Ratings are an important measurement of a health or prescription drug plan's overall quality. Each year, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) gives an overall rating on how well Medicare plans perform in 6 categories.

How are Medicare star ratings calculated?

Plans are rated on a one-to-five scale, with one star representing poor performance and five stars representing excellent performance. Star Ratings are released annually and reflect the experiences of people enrolled in Medicare Advantage and Part D prescription drug plans.Oct 8, 2021

What are the Medicare 5-star measures?

Medicare has many categories, around 37, actually, for measuring the quality and performance a plan must meet before it can receive a 5-Star Rating. Measures include staying healthy programs, managing chronic conditions, member experience and satisfaction, pharmacy services, and customer service.

Why did CMS create the star rating system?

CMS created the Five-Star Quality Rating System to help consumers, their families, and caregivers compare nursing homes more easily and to help identify areas about which you may want to ask questions.

How are CMS 5-Star ratings calculated?

- Ratings are calculated from points that are assigned to the results of nursing home surveys over the past three years, as well as complaint surveys from the past three years and survey revisits. More recent surveys are weighted more heavily.

What are the triple weighted Star measures?

Not only are the three Star medication adherence measures – diabetes, hypertension, and cholesterol – triple weighted, they also impact several of the Part D measures and some of the disease management measures in Part C.

How many measures are required to be included in a hospital's overall star rating?

A hospital must report at least three measure groups with at least three measures in each group, (must include groups Mortality or Safety of Care) in order to receive a star rating. Once the minimum measure and measure group thresholds are met, any additional measures a hospital reports would be included in the Overall Star Rating calculation.

Does CMS standardize measure scores?

Think about an inverse measure where lower scores are better. You wouldn’t want that score to count against a total score, so they standardize all measure scores.

Rating Distribution by Plan Enrollment

The charts below outline the percent of total Medicare Advantage enrollment by star rating for MA-PD and PDP plans from 2019 to 2022.

Medicare Advantage Star Ratings Rating Distribution by Plan Count

The charts below outline Medicare Advantage Star Rating distribution for MA-PD and PDP plans by total count.

Medicare Advantage Star Ratings by Non-profit vs. For-profit

The charts below outline Medicare Advantage Star Rating distribution of MA-PD plans by tax status – either for-profit or non-profit.

Medicare Advantage Star Ratings by Measures

CMS uses specific measures to determine star ratings for plans. As previously discussed, Medicare Part C measures are used to determine MA and MA-PD ratings, while Medicare Part D measures are used to determine MA-PD and PDP ratings. Shown below are the ratings for each measure over the past four years.

image

Categorical Adjustment Index

  • READ MORE: Surveys, Advanced Analytics Key for Member Experience, Star Ratings The fact that stars are assigned to contracts and not individual plans could pose a problem for contracts that cover a diverse set of Medicare Advantage health plans. For example, one employer-sponsored …
See more on healthpayerintelligence.com

Adjustments For Stable, High Performance

  • Additionally, CMS has incorporated an improvement measure for plans that receive high scores multiple years in a row. Consistently high-scoring plans would receive a lower star score in successive years because they have less room for improvement. Calculating the improvement measure involves assessing the net improvement for process measures, patient experience an…
See more on healthpayerintelligence.com

Quality Bonus Payments

  • As a result of the data collection and calculations involved in this methodology, the Medicare Advantage Star Rating system helps consumers compare Medicare Advantage plans. It also informs CMS how much to reimburse payers with Medicare Advantage contracts. The additional quality bonus payment for high-performing health plans is directly linked to the number of stars …
See more on healthpayerintelligence.com

A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9