STAT+: New Medicare Advantage star ratings give extra bonuses to multiple insurers

More than two dozen Medicare Advantage insurers received higher quality marks for 2024, based on a STAT review of new data released July 2 by the federal government.

Ten health insurance companies, including UnitedHealth Group’s UnitedHealthcare and CVS Health’s Aetna, received critical upgrades in some of their offerings that will allow them to earn hundreds of millions of dollars in extra taxpayer-funded bonuses.

Last month, the federal government said it would recalculate this year’s Medicare Advantage star ratings, which serve as a shorthand for an insurance plan’s quality. Federal courts required the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services to make changes after ruling the agency made mistakes with its own methodology.

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