The Trump administration has officially released the data on the 2026 Star Ratings for Medicare Advantage, and multiple leading payers have slipped this year amid more stringent requirements.
Per an analyst’s note from Oppenheimer, 64% of Medicare Advantage enrollees are in plans with four or more stars, a figure that’s on par with last year’s performance. The analysts said that the results are largely in line with expectations and match disclosures from some major players that were made in the past several weeks.
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services inadvertently surfaced the information early, allowing MA plans an unexpected early look at their scores.
Based on that release, Humana, the second-largest player in the Medicare Advantage market, previously disclosed that it would have 20% of its members enrolled in plans with at least four stars for 2026, a measure of strong performance. That’s portion is a decrease from the 2025 plan year, when 25% of its members were in high-performing plans.
The insurer’s average star rating for 2026 is 3.61, and it said that 14% of its members are in plans with at least 4.5 stars. While Humana said the results are “disappointing,” it expects to see material improvements in the 2027 star ratings and beyond.
UnitedHealth Group, the largest insurer in the MA space, also revealed in early September that 78% of its members would be in plans with at least four stars, increasing from 75% in the prior star ratings release.
“At UnitedHealthcare, our long-term commitment to quality means providing the people we serve with the highest quality benefits, access to care and experience,” UnitedHealth said in a statement. “We continue to have more members in plans rated 4-star or higher than any other carrier in the industry.”
The formal data release offered a deeper look at the performance of other key MA carriers.
Aetna’s star ratings performance also declined for 2026, the company announced on Thursday. Aetna said that more than 81% of its members will be enrolled in plans with four or more stars, down from 88% in 2025.
The insurer added that more than 63% of its members are enrolled in plans with at least 4.5 stars.
“This year’s Star Ratings reflect Aetna’s strong fundamentals and unwavering commitment to delivering exceptional care experiences and better health outcomes for our Medicare Advantage members,” said Aetna president Steve Nelson. “I am proud of the way our teams show up every day to support our members, enabling Aetna to serve as their trusted, reliable health care partner.”
Aetna highlighted the performance of some of its MA plans that have secured strong star ratings scores. For instance, its H5521 contract serves 1.1 million members in 33 states and secured 4.5 stars for the second year in a row.
Elevance Health, meanwhile, increased its share of members in plans with at least four stars by 14% year-over-year, with an average plan score of 3.86, according to the Oppenheimer report.
Centene’s performance was also in line with expectations, per the report. While just 20% of Centene’s MA members were in plans with four or more stars, that is a significant increase for the company compared to last year’s 1%. Centene also notched notable growth in the number of people with plans rated 3.5 stars, which grew by 5%, and those with plans rated three stars, up by 14%, according to Oppenheimer.
“Overall, the results were not very surprising given the various company preannouncements over recent weeks,” the analysts wrote.
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