CMS released the final MY2027 Program Announcement and MY2026 Updates (731 pages). It will be posted in "Announcement and Documents" (https://www.cms.gov/medicare/payment/medicare-advantage-rates-statistics/announcements-and-documents) but it's here temporarily: https://public-inspection.federalregister.gov/2026-06600.pdf
There will be many analyses of the changes, but as relates to the Stars program as expected they are NOT implementing the health equity index which would have raised HEDIS, CAHPS and HOS scores by about up to 0.4 star for groups that have a substantial percentage of dual-eligible members.
They are removing the Statin Therapy for Patients with Cardiovascular Disease (SPC) measure for MY2026 (Star Year 2028).
They decided NOT to remove the Eye Exam for Diabetes measure (EED).
They are adding Depression Screening and Follow-Up (DSF-E) for MY2027 (SY 2029).
They are removing a many health plan administrative measures for MY2027 (SY 2029), the net effect of which will be to increase the weight of HEDIS and CAHPS/HOS surveys on the overall Star score. They are removing some CAHPS questions which pertain to the health plan so the relative weight of those that pertain to the PCP experience will increase.
For risk adjustment, not covered in the final Announcement, but in the Advance Notice (https://www.cms.gov/files/document/2027-advance-notice.pdf) starting with MY2027 they are resetting the HCC weights to re-establish a national Paid RAF average of 1.000 (it creeps up due to coding optimization strategies). They do this every few years and it will reduce everyone's RAF scores slightly relative to prior year.
