What are Medicare Star Ratings?

If you are approaching 65 in Charlotte or anywhere in North Carolina and comparing Medicare plans, you have probably seen little star icons next to plan names. Those are Medicare Star Ratings, and they are one of the most useful tools you have for judging plan quality — as long as you understand what they do and do not measure.

Medicare rates Medicare Advantage plans (Part C) and Medicare Part D prescription drug plans on a scale of 1 to 5 stars. Five stars is the top rating, meaning "excellent," and one star is the lowest. The ratings are produced by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), the federal agency that runs Medicare, and they are meant to give you a quick, standardized way to compare plans on quality and service rather than on price alone.

Importantly, Star Ratings apply to Medicare Advantage and Part D plans. Original Medicare (Part A and Part B) is not star-rated, and Medicare Supplement (Medigap) policies are not part of this rating system either, because Medigap benefits are standardized by plan letter.

What the stars actually measure

A plan's overall star score is built from dozens of individual quality and performance measures rolled together. In plain English, the ratings look at things like:

  • Staying healthy: whether members get recommended screenings, vaccines, and preventive checkups.
  • Managing chronic conditions: how well the plan supports members living with things like diabetes or heart conditions.
  • Member experience: satisfaction surveys covering how easy the plan is to deal with and how members rate their care.
  • Customer service and complaints: how the plan handles calls, appeals, and problems, and how often members leave.
  • Drug plan quality (for Part D): accuracy of pricing, patient safety, and how well the plan manages medications.

That is a plain-English summary — the complete, current list of measures CMS uses is published on Medicare.gov.

Because so many separate factors feed into one number, a high overall rating generally reflects a plan that performs consistently well across the board — not just in one area.

Is a 5-star plan better than a 4-star plan?

Broadly, yes: a 5-star plan scored higher on those combined quality and service measures than a 4-star plan did. A 4-star plan still scored well overall; the higher the number, the stronger the plan's combined performance. Medicare publishes the exact descriptive label for each star level on Medicare.gov.

Here is the honest caveat, and it matters: the star rating tells you how a plan performed overall for its whole membership. It does not tell you whether that specific plan covers your doctors, your hospital, or your prescriptions, or whether its costs fit your budget. A 5-star Medicare Advantage plan that does not include your Charlotte-area cardiologist in its network, or that puts one of your medications on a high cost tier, may serve you worse than a 4-star plan that fits your life perfectly.

So think of the stars as an important starting filter, not the final answer. High ratings are a strong signal of quality; matching the plan to your own care is what makes it the right plan for you. And keep in mind the CMS rules for how these are discussed: no plan type is universally "best" for everyone, and ratings describe past performance rather than guaranteeing future results.

When Star Ratings are published and updated

Star Ratings are updated every fall on Medicare.gov, before the fall enrollment window. That timing is deliberate — the fresh ratings are meant to help you compare plans during the period when most people can make changes.

For North Carolina residents turning 65, this connects to two key dates worth knowing in 2026:

  • The Annual Enrollment Period (AEP), also called Medicare Open Enrollment, runs October 15 to December 7 each year. During AEP anyone with Medicare can join, drop, or switch a Medicare Advantage plan or a Part D drug plan, with changes taking effect January 1. New ratings are out in time for this window.
  • Your own Initial Enrollment Period (IEP) around your 65th birthday is 7 months long — the 3 months before your birthday month, your birthday month, and the 3 months after. If you enroll in the 3 months before your birthday month, coverage generally starts the first day of your birthday month.

The 5-Star Special Enrollment Period

There is one benefit that is unique to top-rated plans, and it is worth understanding. Medicare offers a 5-Star Special Enrollment Period. If a 5-star Medicare Advantage plan, Medicare Cost Plan, or Part D plan is available in your area, you can make a one-time switch into it outside the normal enrollment windows.

In 2026, this special enrollment window runs from December 8 (of the prior year) through November 30 of the plan year. You can use it only once during that period, and only to move into a plan that currently holds a 5-star rating in your county. Not every area of North Carolina will have a 5-star plan available in a given year, so whether this option applies to you depends on what is offered where you live.

How to use Star Ratings the smart way

A practical, plain-English way to shop:

  • Start with your needs, not the stars. List your doctors, your regular prescriptions, and your budget first.
  • Use the stars as a quality filter. Among the plans that actually cover your doctors and drugs, lean toward higher-rated ones.
  • Look past the headline number. If two plans are close, the underlying detail — like drug plan safety scores or customer service — can break the tie.
  • Recheck every year. Ratings change annually, and so do a plan's networks, drug lists, and costs. Last year's 5-star plan is not guaranteed to be this year's.

How The Jordan Insurance Agency helps

Star Ratings are a great signal, but reading them alongside networks, drug formularies, and your budget is where the real work is — and where a mistake can cost you all year. That is exactly what The Jordan Insurance Agency does for people approaching 65 in Charlotte and across North Carolina.

We are a full-time, licensed, independent agency, which means we represent multiple carriers rather than a single company. We can compare the higher-rated plans available in your county side by side and check whether they actually include your doctors and cover your medications — not just how many stars they carry. Our agents complete the annual AHIP certification and each carrier's yearly certifications, carry errors and omissions (E&O) coverage, and use real enrollment technology to run those comparisons accurately.

We also review your plan every year at renewal, when the new fall Star Ratings come out and plan details change — so if your plan slips in quality or your drug coverage shifts, you hear about it before it costs you. And using a licensed agent costs you nothing: the carrier pays us, and your premium is the same whether you enroll on your own or with our help. If you would like a neutral, no-pressure walkthrough of the star-rated plans available where you live, reach out to The Jordan Insurance Agency and we will help you compare with confidence. For any figure not shown here, you can also check Medicare.gov or call 1-800-MEDICARE.

Plan availability & disclaimer

We do not offer every plan available in your area. Any information we provide is limited to those plans we do offer in your area. Please contact Medicare.gov or 1-800-MEDICARE to get information on all of your options. The Jordan Insurance Agency is not connected with or endorsed by the United States government or the federal Medicare program.