2027 Medicare Star Ratings: How to Check Your Plan and Compare Your Options

Choosing Medicare coverage for 2027 means looking at more than premiums and extra benefits. You also want to understand how a plan performs, and whether it fits your doctors, prescriptions, and budget.

Medicare star ratings can help you compare plan quality. You can look up these ratings yourself, or work with us to understand what they mean alongside your coverage options.

Here is how to get started.

First, a quick refresher

Medicare rates Medicare Advantage and Part D prescription drug coverage on a five-star scale, where five is excellent and one is poor. Half-star levels such as 3.5 and 4.5 are common. The scores combine preventive care, chronic-condition management, member experience, complaints, customer service and prescription medication use, so they are broader than customer reviews alone.

CMS released the 2027 ratings on October 8, 2026. The scores reflect performance during earlier measurement periods, so they are useful context rather than a promise about your own experience next year.

How to look up your plan’s star rating

1. Start at Medicare Plan Finder

Go to the official Medicare Plan Finder.

Choose 2027 as the coverage year and enter your ZIP code. Follow the prompts to compare Medicare Advantage or standalone prescription drug plans available where you live.

Find your current plan, or one you are considering, then open its details to review the star rating.

2. Enter your medications and pharmacies

While you are comparing, enter your prescriptions and preferred pharmacies. The tool will estimate your medication costs under each option.

This is the part most people skip, and it is the part that matters most. It gives you something a star rating cannot: how the plan handles the drugs you actually take, at the pharmacy you actually use.

3. Check the plan’s own website

You can also look for a document labelled “2027 Medicare Star Ratings” on the insurance company’s website.

Confirm the year and the Medicare contract number before you trust it. For the underlying data, CMS publishes its official Part C and Part D performance data.

4. Get help if you need it

Call 1-800-MEDICARE (1-800-633-4227) for help with coverage and enrollment questions.

Or contact us for a personal conversation about your 2027 options.

Should you choose the plan with the most stars?

Use the rating as one part of the decision, not the whole of it. Before enrolling, check:

• Doctors and hospitals. Are your providers in this specific plan’s network?
• Prescriptions. Are your medications covered, and what will they cost?
• Total costs. Premiums, deductibles, copayments, coinsurance, and the medical out-of-pocket maximum.
• Access rules. Referrals and prior authorization requirements.
• Travel. How routine care is covered when you are away from home.
• Eligibility. Any special-needs requirements.

Networks and access rules differ by Medicare Advantage plan type.

A higher-rated plan might exclude your specialist or cost more for your medications. Another option could fit your healthcare needs better despite having fewer stars.

What if your current plan’s rating went down?

A lower rating is a reason to review your coverage carefully. It is not, by itself, a reason to leave.

Start with your own experience. Have you had trouble getting appointments, filling prescriptions, resolving a complaint, or getting care approved? Then look at the plan’s 2027 benefits, costs and provider network, and compare alternatives before you decide.

Can a five-star rating give you another enrollment opportunity?

Medicare offers a Five-Star Special Enrollment Period when an eligible five-star plan is available in your service area.

For the 2027 plan year it runs from December 8, 2026, through November 30, 2027, and can generally be used once in that period. You must still meet the plan’s own enrollment requirements, which for some five-star plans are substantial.

Our Florida ratings article covers which five-star contracts actually serve Florida, and the eligibility limits on each.

How we help you compare

Looking up a rating is a useful first step. Understanding how a plan fits your life takes a more personal review.

I am Kate Spilsbury, founder of Mere Benefits, a Jacksonville-based independent insurance agency. As a Certified Medicare Insurance Planner® and Registered Social Security Analyst®, I help people understand their options in clear, everyday language. Meet Kate and our team.

We help you compare coverage around your doctors, medications, budget and enrollment situation, and explain the differences between Medicare Advantage, Medicare Supplement insurance and standalone Part D.

Our Medicare guidance is available at no cost to you, with no pressure to enroll. Our support continues after enrollment, with the MereCare team on hand for questions and paperwork.

Get help reviewing your 2027 options

Medicare Open Enrollment runs October 15 through December 7, 2026, for coverage beginning January 1, 2027.

Whether you prefer to research on your own or want someone to walk through the choices with you, start by checking the exact plan, the coverage year, and local availability.

Ready for a personal review? Call (904) 654-5450 or get in touch with our team.

We help Medicare beneficiaries in Jacksonville, across the First Coast, and throughout Florida understand their options for 2027.

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Information checked October 10, 2026. Every year, Medicare evaluates plans based on a five-star rating system. Plan availability, benefits, networks, and eligibility vary. Mere Benefits and its agents are not connected with or endorsed by the U.S. government or the federal Medicare program.