Most MA Members Are Not Aware of Star Ratings, Study Shows

Roughly one in five Medicare Advantage (MA) members are aware of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) Star Ratings System, as highlighted in a 2019 article by Kelly Gooch in Becker’s Payer Issue.

Pulling data from a 2018 Healthmine study, the article summarized various key findings about how MA beneficiaries perceive their coverage and the impact of broad engagement strategies on health outcomes. The study involved 781 MA beneficiaries who had at least one chronic condition. As highlighted by the article, the majority of MA members do not realize they can evaluate the quality of a health plan based on Star Ratings and compare scores during annual enrollment periods. However, members did say that if they had more information about the program, they would use the scores when choosing a plan.