Rex Wallace Consulting

CMS Stars Research Dashboard

Data As Of
Star Ratings2023 – 2026
EnrollmentMarch 2026
Service AreaMarch 2026
D-SNP StatusFebruary 2026

Stars Research Dashboard

A research and strategy tool for understanding MA star performance — across contracts, parent orgs, markets, and time. Use it to prep for client conversations, identify prospects, or dig into what's driving ratings changes.

Navigate between views using the menu in the top-left corner.
Sections in this dashboard
Performance Profile

Deep-dive views for a single plan or parent org — star history, measure detail, and competitor positioning.

Market Trends

How ratings, measures, and the regulatory landscape are moving across markets and years.

Biz Dev

Tools for finding prospects and understanding their competitive footing.

Regulatory & Litigation Models

How the CY2027 Final Rule and the Clover ruling reshape ratings, bonuses, and rebates.

When you want to…
Prep for a specific contract or client conversation
Contract →
Size up the market around a plan — who's competing, who leads, where the gaps are
Competitor Analysis →
Compare every contract under a parent org and see the weighted picture
Parent Org →
Track how a specific measure has moved year-over-year nationally or by state
Measure Stars →
Understand what the 2029 rule changes do to ratings
2029 Rule Impact →
Find new pitch targets based on declining stars, gaps, or other risk signals
Prospect Finder →
Compare a plan's supplemental benefits against real service-area competitors
Benefits Explorer →

Update Data

Refresh the dashboard with the latest monthly CMS files — enrollment, service area, and SNP. Star ratings are annual and update separately, not from this tab.

Upload Files
Months are read from each filename
Each file is dated independently from the YYYY_MM in its name — so the SNP "Data As Of" stamp follows the SNP file's month even when it lags enrollment. The Fallback Month field is only used if a filename is missing the date pattern.
What this updates
Enrollment counts, service-area county lists, and SNP designations — the inputs to competitor pools and SA-scoped metrics. Star ratings come from a separate annual file. After upload, the status line and the header "Data As Of" stamps will reflect exactly what landed.
Parent Org Profile
What it does: Provides a consolidated view of a parent organization — enrollment-weighted star trends across all its contracts, plus measure-level performance trends filterable by CMS domain.
Get started: Type a parent org name in the search box or click to browse. Results appear as soon as you select an org.
Key features: Enrollment-weighted star trend chart across all contracts in the org; measure performance trend table with HD1–HD5 / DD1–DD4 domain filters; measure search to quickly find a specific metric.
Tip: This is the best starting point for account research before a client meeting — it shows the org's full portfolio trajectory in one view.
None selected
→
Select a Parent Organization
Search above to explore star performance, contract portfolio, measure analysis, and enrollment by state.
Scenario Modeler — Select a contract, then adjust any measure's star rating to model the impact on Part C, Part D, Overall star, and the Reward Factor bonus. Quality Improvement measures (QI) carry 5× weight in the Reward Factor calculation. Green = baseline earning; amber = scenario improvement.
Select a Contract to Model
Search or browse for a contract above to load its measure data and run what-if scenarios.
Summary Star Trending
What it does: Track how Overall, Part C, and Part D star ratings — or CMS sub-domain scores — have moved over time across all plans in the dataset.
Get started: Select a metric from the pill buttons at the top (Overall ★, Part C ★, Part D ★, or a sub-domain HD1–HD5 / DD1–DD4). Then filter by state, org type, or SNP type.
Key features: Multi-year trend lines per contract with stoplight color coding; enrollment-weighted market average overlay; hover any data point for contract details.
Tip: Sub-domain metrics (HD1–HD5, DD1–DD4) are especially useful for diagnosing where a rating change is coming from — a drop in HD2 points to CAHPS/member experience issues.
Metric: │ │
State: │ Plan Type: │ SNP:
Map Rows: │ │ │ Color by:
Loading county maps…
Measure Trending
What it does: Zoom in on a single measure to see how rates and star scores have trended year over year across all contracts in the dataset.
Get started: Pick a measure from the dropdown. Optionally filter by state or org type to narrow the field.
Key features: Per-contract trend lines for both rate (%) and star score; national average benchmark line; fast-mover identification.
Tip: Pair with Competitor Comparison to understand whether a specific competitor is gaining or losing ground on a measure your client is targeting.
Plan Type:
SNP:
State Profile
What it does: See a broad market snapshot — all MA plans in a geography with their enrollment, star ratings, and measure performance ranked side by side.
Get started: Select a state (and optionally a county) to define the market, then choose a year. The table populates automatically.
Key features: Enrollment-ranked plan table; per-measure performance heatmap; market-level summary stats including top-3 enrollment concentration.
Tip: County filtering gives a hyper-local view useful for clients competing in specific metropolitan or rural markets.
Plan Type:
Contract Parent Org Plan Type MOOP Med D-SNP Overall ★ Part C ★ Part D ★ Enrollment Mkt Share % QBP
Market Benchmarks
What it does: Select one or more states to see the full distribution of Star Ratings for all contracts serving those markets — counts, enrollment weight, and a sortable contract table.
Use case: Set realistic performance expectations for a client operating in specific geographies. Answers "what does a typical plan in this market score?"
Key metrics: Enrollment-weighted average, median, percent at 4★+, distribution bar chart by rating level.

Select States

No states selected
Analyze by
Analyze a specific contract and its service-area peers.
CONTRACT
FILTERS
Select a contract to see competitor comparison
Search by contract ID (e.g. H1234) or marketing name above
Prospect Finder
State: |
Min Enroll:
Score = signals firing across all indicators: 5+ Hot 3-4 Strong 1-2 Watch
Contract Profile
What it does: Deep-dive profile for a single MA contract — star trend, measure performance, and strengths/weaknesses analysis at the contract level.
Get started: Type a contract ID or name in the search box, or click Browse to pick from a list. Clear the selection at any time with the ✕ button.
Key features: Enrollment-year star rating grid, per-measure rates with year-over-year delta, and Strengths/Weaknesses cards showing which measures are stable performers vs. declining. Filter measures by domain or search by name.
Tip: Use Contract Profile alongside Parent Org Profile to compare an individual contract against the parent organization's enrollment-weighted averages.
Search for a contract to view its profile
Enter a contract ID (e.g. H1234) or plan name above
Benefits Explorer — Search for a contract to view its supplemental benefit profile across 2024–2026, plus how it benchmarks against county-level competitors. Data: CMS Plan Benefit Package (PBP). 2024 = Stars measurement year; 2025–2026 = current competitive landscape.
Key: $450  offered with amount ✓  offered (no CMS amount) —  not offered n/d  no PBP data for that year In competitor table: red = competitor offers more · green = competitor offers less
Search for a Contract
Enter a contract ID above to explore its benefit profile and competitive positioning.
Try: H0028 · H5216 · H5619 · H1889
📄
Parent Brief
Select a parent organization from the Profile tab, then return here to view the performance brief.
Cut Point Trends
What it does: Shows how cut points have moved historically (2023–2026 actuals) and where RWC projects them for SY2027 and SY2028.
Revision history: The 2027/2028 projections evolved across four RWC estimation rounds (Jan, Apr, Jun, LateJun 2026). The revision chart shows that drift for the selected star level.
Source: Actuals from CMS published technical notes. Projections: RWC internal estimates, latest revision LateJun 2026 (SY2027) and Jun 2026 (SY2028).
Star level for revision chart:
2029 Rule Impact · CMS-4212-P Simulation
What it does: Maps the projected impact of CMS-4212-P rule changes by state, showing 2026 actual vs. 2029 simulated enrollment-weighted average stars for Overall, Part C, and Part D.
Data source: CMS simulation file (516 MA H-contracts). 2029 scores reflect updated measure weights, new measures, and revised cut points codified under CMS-4212-P.
How to read it: The Δ column shows the state-level change — green tiles indicate projected improvement, red tiles indicate projected decline relative to 2026 actuals. Tile color in the 2026/2029 panels uses the standard stoplight scale.
Metric: │ State: │ SNP: │ Contract:
│ Parent Org:
│
Clover Health v. HHS · CMS's Implemented Recalculation

What CMS Actually Did

CMS voluntarily recalculated 2027 QBP ratings (the SY2026 Star Ratings) in its June 17, 2026 HPMS memo. This is the implemented result, reverse-engineered from CMS's QI and reward-factor worksheets. It is not identical to any single litigation scenario.

What the recalculation removed
The recalc drops two measure sets, then recomputes the weighted mean and variance, which moves the reward factor. CMS keeps the result only where it raises a contract's rating (held harmless).
1. Part C admin measures, pulled forward from the CY2027 Final Rule
Call Center – Foreign Language / TTY · removed SY2028
Plan Makes Timely Decisions about Appeals · SY2029
Reviewing Appeals Decisions · SY2029
Complaints about the Health Plan · SY2029
Members Choosing to Leave the Plan · SY2029
SNP Care Management · SY2029
Measures CMS had already finalized for removal. The two SY2029 CAHPS removals (Customer Service, Rating of Health Care Quality) were kept in, so this is the administrative subset only.
2. All Part D measures, per the court's authority ruling
Every Part D measure is removed: drug-plan CAHPS, complaints, MPF price accuracy, MTM completion, the three adherence measures, SUPD, and Drug Plan Quality Improvement.
Clover v. HHS held that CMS lacked statutory authority to use Part D performance in the Medicare Advantage (Part C) quality bonus determination.
Parent Org Report
Clover Health v. HHS
CMS Implemented Recalculation
The SY2026 rating recalculation CMS implemented after the June 17, 2026 HPMS memo. It removes all Part D measures and six Part C admin measures, recomputes the reward factor, and applies the result held harmless. Use the maps for geographic exposure and the search to build parent-org and contract reports.
Map metric: │ Report:
│
Competitors in Service Area
Stars Math Path Builder
Adjust measure rates to model impact on Part C, Part D, Overall, and Reward Factor. SY2026 data pre-loaded for any contract.
STAR YEAR
No contract selected
Search for any MA or PDP contract above. SY2026 measure rates will pre-load automatically so you can start adjusting right away.