Which carriers are gaining or losing stars?
Humana shows the steepest slide among tracked carriers on the derived carrier average: 3.8★ → 3.4★ (-0.4) across the 2023–2026 rating years. Kaiser is the outlier holding 4.8★; UHC and Centene drift slowly downward. Each point is a MedicareInsights enrollment-weighted carrier average derived from the official CMS contract-level Star Ratings published the preceding October. CMS rates contracts, not carriers; it does not publish a carrier-level rating.
Unless noted, figures are 2026 Star Ratings (published Oct 2025).
DERIVED METRIC Enrollment-weighted star average by carrier, by rating year
Only annual October ratings are shown; CMS does not publish quarterly ratings. Each step holds the official value until the next October release.
Data table — derived enrollment-weighted carrier averages by rating year
| Rating year | UHC | Humana | Kaiser | Centene |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2023 (published Oct 2022) | 4 | 3.8 | 4.8 | 3.4 |
| 2024 (published Oct 2023) | 3.8 | 3.6 | 4.8 | 3.1 |
| 2025 (published Oct 2024) | 3.9 | 3.5 | 4.8 | 3.1 |
| 2026 (published Oct 2025) | 3.8 | 3.4 | 4.8 | 3.1 |
So what / Now what Interpretation
Star declines lag into revenue two years later via quality bonus payments — Humana's slide below 3.5 average and Centene's 3.1 put bonus-eligibility (4.0★ contract-level) increasingly out of reach for large member blocks, while Kaiser's stable 4.8 is a durable benefit-funding advantage.
- Benchmarking a carrier: compare against the trajectory, not the level — a stable 3.8 and a falling 3.8 price differently.
- See the measure-level page for what is driving the declines (CAHPS access measures dominate).
- Payer strategy: model 2027 rebate impact for any book with a falling weighted average; for bonus-eligibility planning, the 4.0 contract-level cliff is the threshold to model against.
Provenance — Star rating trajectory by carrier
- Source file
- CMS MA Star Ratings (annual, published each October); CMS prior-auth reporting
- Vintage
- 2026 Star Ratings (published Oct 2025)
- Last updated
- February 10, 2026
- Refresh cadence
- Annual (October)
- Method
- MedicareInsights enrollment-weighted derived carrier average star rating for each carrier's contracts, one point per rating year from the official October release.
- Known limitations
- Only annual October ratings are shown; CMS does not publish quarterly ratings.