For 2022, there are a total of 87 Medicare contracts nationwide that have a 5-star rating (a significant increase from the 28 Medicare contracts that had 5-star ratings in 2021). Three are Medicare cost plans and 74 are Medicare Advantage plans with integrated Part D coverage. The other ten are stand-alone Part D plans, but they’re only available as employer group plans, and cannot be purchased by individuals (see Table A3 here for details). Of the 87 contracts that received five stars for 2022, there were 60 that had lower ratings in 2021.
CMS noted that although some changes had been made to the rating system for 2022 to account for the COVID pandemic, the sharp increase in the number of contracts with 5-star ratings “also reflects improvements in sponsors’ scores on several measures.”