Guides · CMS 2026 Star Ratings
Medicare Advantage Guides
According to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), 4,533 Medicare Advantage plans carry a 2026 star rating. These guides cite that same extract: how the 1 to 5 scale is built, how county inventory is listed, and what supplemental-benefit fields CMS publishes. Every figure traces to our methodology.
- 4,533
- rated plans
- 59.9%
- 4-star or higher
- 208
- 5-star plans
- 4
- guides
The 2026 quality mix
Of 4,533 rated Medicare Advantage plans, 2,714 (59.9%) earn 4 stars or higher, and 208 sit at 5 stars. 914 plans in the extract carry no rating yet (too new or too small).
- 4,533
- rated plans in this extract
- 59.9%
- earn 4 stars or higher
- 208
- 5-star plans
- 914
- not yet rated
Rated share uses plans with a CMS star_rating > 0. Unrated plans are a separate count, not in the 4-star denominator. See methodology.
Product mix · plans_unique
How 5,447 plans split by CMS plan type
Exclusive inventory axis, orthogonal to the star-tier bars below. Other folds MSA, PFFS, and residual codes.
Rated Medicare Advantage plans by CMS star tier
How to Choose a Medicare Advantage Plan in 2026
A guide to the CMS plan fields available in this directory and the official services that provide current, person-specific plan details.
Understanding Medicare Advantage Star Ratings
What the CMS 1 to 5 star scale means, how star ratings are calculated, and why they matter for plan quality and insurer bonuses.
Medicare Advantage Dental, Vision & Hearing Benefits
What supplemental benefits Medicare Advantage plans may cover for dental, vision, and hearing, and how to compare them across plans in your county.
Medicare Advantage vs Original Medicare
Official comparison resources for current Medicare coverage and plan details; PlainMedicare does not provide individual coverage advice.
How to read this hub
The charts count CMS-rated plans. Each guide below explains a field in that same extract.
- Open the star-ratings guide to see how CMS builds the 1 to 5 scale behind the 4,533 rated plans. Star ratings guide
- County inventory and premiums live on state and county pages, not in these explainers. Browse by state
- The national counts on /statistics use this same plans_unique extract. Statistics
Star ratings measure prior-year quality bands, not whether a given plan covers a specific doctor or drug. Confirm current details on Medicare.gov.
Methodology
Guide counts come from the CMS 2026 Star Ratings extract loaded into this site. Rated-plan totals exclude rows with no star_rating. Full sourcing is on the methodology page.
Open Data
Download medicare-advantage-state-statistics.csv (same CSV as the homepage and /statistics Dataset).
PlainMedicare is rendered directly from CMS Medicare Advantage and Part D public files, no number is typed in by an editor. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, or report a correction. Data current as of 2026 plan year.