UnitedHealth suit challenges Medicare Advantage star ratings

UnitedHealth Group is suing the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, asking a judge to halt the federal agency from lowering the insurance company’s 2025 Medicare Advantage quality ratings.

The health care giant alleged in the lawsuit that Medicare downgraded its Medicare Advantage star ratings, which are supposed to indicate a plan’s quality, based on “an arbitrary and capricious assessment” of its call center. UnitedHealth asked the judge to intervene immediately, since Medicare Advantage star ratings come out Oct. 10, and force Medicare to recalculate its scores without including the call center measure.

CMS told STAT it does not comment on pending litigation.