Today, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) announced 2022 Medicare Stars Quality Ratings (Stars) for Medicare Advantage plans.
I’m excited to share that we expect 89% of our Medicare Advantage and Prescription Drug Plan (MAPD) customers will be in a 4-Star rated plan or higher nationally for the 2022 calendar year – up from 88% for 2021 and 87% for 2020. This is the fifth year in a row we have improved our Stars performance.
Our high scores can be attributed to:
· Continued strong performance on administrative measures.
· Strong results from HEDIS, which is a set of clinical metrics that allows users to compare quality across plans.
· Solid results from CAHPS, which is a survey that goes to plan customers annually to gauge their perception of the care they receive from their plan and providers.
Most exciting is that we’ve achieved a 5-Star plan rating in Florida for the fourth year in a row! This is such an outstanding result, made more difficult to achieve over the past 18 months by the COVID-19 pandemic. Our 5-Star rating puts this plan in the top fifteen percent of all plans offered nationally. As you know, it also means that we can enroll members and market our products year-round in Florida. If you have brokers in this state, please encourage them to meet with our local team and learn more about this 5-Star opportunity, our enhanced benefit offering and improved network position.
Additional highlights of our 2022 Stars Ratings include:
· A fourth year of 4.5 Star HMO performance in Alabama, Tennessee, and Texas (which make up nearly half of our current MAPD enrollment).
· North Carolina’s HMO maintained 4.5 Stars, and South Carolina’s HMO achieved 4.5 Stars for the first time.
· Arizona's and Mississippi’s HMO plans both improved from 4 Stars to 4.5 Stars.
· Georgia’s HMO and Illinois’ HMO both improved to 4 Stars.
· Pennsylvania’s HMO held its 4-Star rating.
· Our North Texas PPO earned 4 Stars for the first time.
Based on historical CMS rules, we anticipate our nationwide enrollment weighted average will again be 4.5 Stars for 2022 – our third consecutive year of earning this rating! This is exciting because this rating determines the Stars revenue we will earn in 2023 for our newer Medicare contracts that have not yet received their own ratings, allowing us to offer richer benefits to customers in many of our new geographies.
Overall, we are proud of our results, and excited to share them with our broker partners. These results underscore our commitment to delivering affordable, predictable, simple Medicare Advantage plans. For the approximately 20 million Medicare beneficiaries who live in the markets we serve – and who will start shopping for a Medicare Advantage plan next week – our strong Stars scores will help differentiate us in the marketplace.
Thank you for your continued partnership.