• Maryland: CMS on Thursday released its MA Star Ratings, revealing that around 40% of MA plans with prescription drug coverage will earn at least four stars in 2025. This is a decline from 2024 when 42% of plans received at least four stars and is down from 51% in 2023. In addition, only seven MA plans with drug coverage earned five stars in 2025, down from 38 in 2024. The new ratings come after CMS was required to revise its star rating methodology when a federal judge ruled the agency had erred in implementing some of its technical changes for this year's Star Ratings. (Olsen, HealthcareDive, 10/11; Tepper, Modern Healthcare, 10/10; Tepper, Modern Healthcare, 10/14)
• Rhode Island: CVS Health is planning to move forward with expansion plans for primary care provider Oak Street Health, even as the company is reportedly conducting a strategic review and weighing options for breaking up some of its businesses, including its retail pharmacy, its insurance arm Aetna, its pharmacy benefit manager CVS Caremark, and Oak Street. A spokesperson for CVS said the company is continuing with its previously announced expansion plan for Oak Street but did not say how many clinics it has opened this year. According to Modern Healthcare, as of August, Oak Street had opened 16 clinics in 10 states since December 2023 and plans to open another 38 by the end of the year. (Hudson, Modern Healthcare, 10/10)
• Washington: Amazon on Wednesday announced it plans to open 20 new pharmacies where customers can receive same-day delivery of their prescriptions. Amazon Pharmacy said it will leverage its "vast logistics network and advanced automation technology to solve one of pharmacy's biggest pain points: the lack of convenient, affordable access to medications." Amazon added the new pharmacies will not be retail locations but instead will be "embedded in Amazon same-day delivery sites, enabling faster delivery of medication directly to a customer's door." Amazon said the expansion will add same-day delivery to Boston, Dallas, Minneapolis, Philadelphia, and San Diego, adding that additional cities will be announced in coming months. (Japsen, Forbes, 10/9)

Star Ratings are one of the most impactful levers for financial success in Medicare Advantage. But health plans can struggle to inflect their ratings due to shifting performance indicators. Learn four strategies to increase your plan's Star Rating performance and achieve long-term success.