CMS released its report card for Medicare Advantage and Part D prescription drug plans Oct. 10.
Medicare ranks Medicare Advantage and Part D plans on a quality scale of one to five stars, with five representing excellent performance and one reflecting poor performance. CMS also pays bonuses to plans with high ratings.
In 2019, most beneficiaries will be able to select a Medicare Advantage or Part D plan with four or more stars, CMS said. Notably, CMS is removing a star rating unit for Medicare Advantage plans beginning in 2019. It will remove the Beneficiary Access and Performance Problems measure from its star rating calculations. The BAPP measure considers CMS' sanctions, civil money penalties and compliance data like notices of noncompliance, warning letters and corrective action plans.
To assign stars, Medicare analyzes how health plans performed on some of the following measures: breast cancer screening, colorectal cancer screening, annual flu vaccine, improving or maintaining physical health, improving or maintaining mental health, monitoring physical activity and adult body mass index assessment.
Here are the plans receiving a five-star rating:
Note: Some plans are repeated or grouped together below. This is because CMS' ratings are grouped by contracts and not by plans. Therefore, a contract can have multiple plans.
Medicare Advantage and Part D
1. Kelsey-Seybold Plan Administrators
2. Kaiser Foundation Health Plan
3. Humana's Careplus Health Plans
4. Guidewell's Health Options
5. Kaiser Foundation Health Plan (different contract)
6. Medical Associates Health Plan (MA only)
7. Kaiser Foundation Health Plan of The Mid-Atlantic States
8. Kaiser Foundation Health Plan of The Mid-Atlantic States (different contract)
9. Tufts Associated Health Maintenance Organization
10. Humana's Cariten Health Plan
11. Care Wisconsin Health Plan
12. Cigna's Healthspring of Florida
13. Anthem's Healthsun Health Plans
14. Martin's Point Generations Advantage
15. Gundersen Health Plan of Minnesota
Part D only
16. Anthem, Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts, BCBS of Rhode Island, BCBS of Vermont (same contract)
17. Excellus Health Plan
18. Independent Health Benefits Corp.
19. Wellmark Iowa and South Dakota, BCBS of Minnesota, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada and Wyoming (same contract)
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