October 21, 2026
WASHINGTON, D.C.— Medicare Advantage (MA) plans accredited by the National Committee for Quality Assurance (NCQA) earn higher CMS Star Ratings, and do so more consistently, than plans without accreditation. That is the main finding of The Accreditation Advantage, a new NCQA report and the first comprehensive look at how NCQA Health Plan Accreditation relates to Star Ratings performance.
NCQA studied three years of performance data, Measurement Years 2022–2024. The analysis compared accredited and non-accredited MA plans on the 13 HEDIS® measures and 7 CAHPS® measures used in the Star Ratings. In Measurement Year 2024, accredited plans reached 4 Stars or higher 66% of the time, compared with 52% of non-accredited plans. Accredited plans also scored an average of 4 points higher across all 13 HEDIS measures.
In 2026, more than half of eligible Medicare beneficiaries (about 35 million people) were enrolled in an MA plan. That share has grown from 19% in 2007, and the Congressional Budget Office projects it will reach 63% by 2034. CMS Star Ratings shape clinical outcomes, membership growth and financial results for these plans. Quality bonus payments to MA plans are expected to exceed $13 billion in 2026, and much of that money goes back to members as richer benefits, lower cost sharing or lower premiums.
“Before I came to NCQA, I spent years caring for seniors and leading care for older adults. I saw firsthand how much depends on whether a plan has the systems, focus and accountability to make sure people get the care they deserve,” said Dr. Vivek Garg, President and CEO of NCQA. “With more than half of eligible beneficiaries now in Medicare Advantage, the stakes for patients and caregivers are too high to guess at what works. What this report shows is that accreditation, and the sustained investment in quality behind it, is consistently linked to better results for the people MA plans serve. Part of NCQA’s role is to make this kind of evidence available so plans, purchasers and policymakers can all push quality forward.”
Despite these results, MA has the lowest accreditation rate of any major line of business. About 44% of MA covered lives are in an NCQA-Accredited plan. That compares with about 58% in commercial plans, 86% in Medicaid managed care and 95% in the ACA Marketplace. Medicaid, the Marketplace and the Federal Employees Health Benefits Program already build accreditation into contracting, procurement or participation requirements.
Closing that gap could make a real difference. If non-accredited plans performed at accredited-plan rates, NCQA estimates:
- 1.5 million more Medicare beneficiaries could get needed care and services each year.
- Medicare could save about $1 billion (net present value) over five years.
“What stands out from this analysis is how consistent the pattern is: across measures, across Star thresholds and across three years of data,” said Sarah Shih, Vice President of NCQA’s Quality Measurement and Research Group. “These findings are associational, not causal, and we were careful about how we designed and reported the analysis. When you translate those differences into healthcare opportunities and potential health outcomes, the scale and magnitude is striking. These are real people getting cancer screenings and chronic disease care they might otherwise miss.”
Visit ncqa.org/accreditation-advantage to view the full report, including the complete methodology.
About NCQA
NCQA is an independent nonprofit organization that defines and drives healthcare quality through accreditation, standards, performance measurement and expert support. For more than 35 years, NCQA has advanced transparency, accountability and enabled healthcare organizations to deliver better outcomes for patients. NCQA’s Healthcare Effectiveness Data and Information Set (HEDIS®) is one of healthcare’s most widely used performance improvement tools. Learn more at ncqa.org. Follow NCQA on X @ncqa and on LinkedIn at linkedin.com/company/ncqa.
Media Contact
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HEDIS® is a registered trademark of the National Committee for Quality Assurance (NCQA).
CAHPS® is a registered trademark of the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ).
