UnitedHealth wins lawsuit over Medicare Advantage ratings

A conservative federal judge in Texas has ruled in favor of UnitedHealth Group, saying the federal government unlawfully factored in a “disputed” phone call to lower UnitedHealth’s Medicare Advantage ratings. 

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services will now have to revise UnitedHealth’s 2025 Medicare Advantage ratings by taking out the call center metric, and “immediately publish the recalculated star ratings in the Medicare Plan Finder,” Judge Jeremy Kernodle wrote in his ruling. 

UnitedHealth sued in October and pushed for an expedited ruling so revised ratings could be displayed during Medicare’s open enrollment, which continues until Dec. 7. Prospective Medicare enrollees tend to gravitate toward higher-rated plans.