United States · Medicare Advantage · Worst plans

What Are the Worst Medicare Advantage Plans for 2027?

By Best Worst Insurance Editorial TeamUpdated October 18, 2026

The worst Medicare Advantage plans for 2027 are not hard to find once you look at the ratings CMS published on 8 October 2026. 156 contracts are rated three stars or lower, and 3,357,547 people were enrolled in them in October 2026 ^[1,2,3]. Most are small, but 83 of them have more than 10,000 members, so they are plans real people are offered and renew into. The biggest fall of the year belongs to CareFirst BlueCross BlueShield's PPO contract H7379, which dropped a star and a half, from 4 to 2.5 ^[1,2,3]. Below are the lowest-rated contracts with at least 10,000 members, the four CMS has flagged as low performers, and the insurers with the smallest share of members in a good plan.

Best Worst Insurance Key Takeaways

CareFirst BlueCross BlueShield's PPO (H7379) is the largest plan at the bottom of the scale: 2.5 stars, 47,606 members in Maryland, DC and Delaware, down from 4 stars last year ^[1,2,3].
Blue Shield of California (H4937) fell from 3.5 to 2.5 with 46,821 members, and two Wellcare contracts, in Washington and Iowa, start their first rated year at 2.5 ^[1,3].
The largest 3-star contract is UnitedHealthcare of California (H0543), with 249,748 members, down from 4 stars ^[1,2,3].
By insurer, Healthfirst and BlueCross BlueShield of Tennessee have none of their members in a four-star plan, and 72% of Molina's are in plans at three stars or lower ^[1,3].
UnitedHealthcare's H3256 fell from 5 stars to 3.5, the steepest drop for any contract with more than 50,000 members. 33 contracts lost a full star or more ^[1,2,3].

How we know: Ratings are CMS's 2027 overall Star Ratings, published 8 October 2026, and member counts are CMS's October 2026 enrollment by contract; the states shown are where each contract has the most members, from CMS's state and county enrollment file. "Worst" here means lowest-rated with at least 10,000 members, because a 2-star plan with 800 members is not one most readers will ever be offered. Every table is produced by a committed script from the CMS files. We sell no plans. Full methodology →

The lowest-rated Medicare Advantage plans for 2027 with at least 10,000 members

Sorted by 2027 rating, then by members ^[1,2,3]. "States" are the three where the contract has the most members. A plan's ID starts with its contract number, so H0543-001 is a plan in contract H0543.

Brand	Contract	Legal name	2027 stars	Change from 2026	Members, Oct 2026	States
CareFirst BlueCross BlueShield Medicare Advantage	H7379	Carefirst Advantage PPO, Inc.	2.5	4 → 2.5	47,606	MD, DC, DE
Blue Shield of California	H4937	California Physicians' Service	2.5	3.5 → 2.5	46,821	CA, NV, AZ
Wellcare	H0029	Coordinated Care of Washington, Inc.	2.5	new or unrated in 2026	31,644	WA
HealthSpring	H0672	Healthspring Healthcare of Colorado, Inc.	2.5	3 → 2.5	26,459	OH, KY, CO
ATRIO Health Plans	H6743	Atrio Health Plans	2.5	no change	21,080	OR
Wellcare	H1862	Wellcare of Iowa, Inc.	2.5	new or unrated in 2026	12,928	IA
ATRIO Health Plans	H7006	Atrio Health Plans	2.5	2 → 2.5	10,452	OR
Community Health Group	H4733	Community Health Group	2.5	3.5 → 2.5	10,269	CA
UnitedHealthcare	H0543	UHC of California	3	4 → 3	249,748	CA, AZ, NV
Anthem HealthKeepers	H3447	Healthkeepers, Inc.	3	3.5 → 3	155,821	VA, IN, MO
UnitedHealthcare	H1278	Care Improvement Plus South Central Insurance Co.	3	3.5 → 3	136,364	TX, WA, NE
Medica	H2450	Medica Insurance Company	3	3.5 → 3	116,972	MN, WI, SD
Aetna Medicare	H3312	Aetna Health Inc. (Ny)	3	no change	104,695	NY
Anthem Blue Cross	H4471	Blue Cross of California Partnership Plan, Inc.	3	no change	104,683	CA
Humana	H5970	Humana Insurance Company of New York	3	no change	87,771	NY

1. How we picked the worst

A star rating is set per contract, and one contract can hold dozens of plans in several states. So "the worst Medicare Advantage plans" in practice means the lowest-rated contracts that enough people are actually in. We used CMS's 2027 overall ratings and a floor of 10,000 members. That leaves 83 contracts at three stars or below ^[1,2,3]; the table at the top shows the fifteen lowest.

The floor matters. Without it the list fills up with tiny plans, some with fewer than a thousand members, that most readers will never see in Plan Finder. With it, every name above is a plan someone in its state is likely to be offered this autumn.

2. The plans at 2.5 stars

Eight contracts with more than 10,000 members are rated 2.5 for 2027 ^[1,3]. The two largest are sold to the general Medicare population rather than to a special group. CareFirst BlueCross BlueShield's PPO, H7379, has 47,606 members across Maryland, DC and Delaware and fell a star and a half in one year ^[1,2,3]. Blue Shield of California's H4937 has 46,821 and fell a full star.

Wellcare has two contracts at 2.5 that had no overall rating last year, Coordinated Care of Washington (H0029) and Wellcare of Iowa (H1862). ATRIO Health Plans has two in Oregon, which helps explain why Oregon ranks among the states with the worst Medicare Advantage plans.

3. The largest plans at 3 stars

Three stars is where the big names appear. UnitedHealthcare of California, H0543, has 249,748 members and dropped from 4 to 3 ^[1,2,3]. Anthem HealthKeepers in Virginia, UnitedHealthcare's H1278 in Texas, Medica in Minnesota, Aetna's New York HMO and Humana's New York contract are all at 3 stars with between 87,000 and 156,000 members each. If you live in California, Texas or New York, the state pages show which contracts people there are actually in, and how each is rated.

4. Plans with CMS's low-performing warning

CMS's 2027 Low Performing Contracts: below three stars for three years running ^[1]. Medicare Plan Finder shows a warning icon beside these plans. HealthSpring's H7389 had no members to count in October 2026.

Brand	Contract	Legal name	2027 stars	Members, Oct 2026	States
Aetna Medicare	H4982	Aetna Better Health of California Inc.	2.5	9,358	CA
ATRIO Health Plans	H3814	Atrio Health Plans	2.5	2,000	OR
HealthSpring	H7389	Healthspring Life & Health Insurance Company, Inc.	2.5	0

These four have scored below three stars for three straight years ^[1]. Medicare Plan Finder marks them, and CMS can send members a letter suggesting they look at other plans. ATRIO's H3814 and Aetna Better Health of California's H4982 both still have members.

5. The insurers with the fewest members in a good plan

The eight insurers with at least 100,000 members and the smallest share of them in a contract rated four stars or more, by the parent organisation CMS records ^[1,3].

Parent organisation	Members, Oct 2026	Rated contracts	Members at 4+ stars	Members at 3 stars or below	Average stars (by member)
Healthfirst, Inc.	374,633	4	0%	4%	3.48
BlueCross BlueShield of Tennessee	220,412	2	0%	14%	3.43
Molina Healthcare, Inc.	111,617	10	9%	72%	3.22
Centene Corporation	815,956	46	10%	58%	3.22
Health Care Service Corporation	874,833	21	13%	33%	3.39
Alignment Healthcare USA, LLC	300,290	7	25%	0%	3.71
Elevance Health, Inc.	1,806,985	37	47%	24%	3.82
Lifetime Healthcare, Inc.	335,053	5	52%	1%	3.76

Healthfirst, the New York insurer, has 374,633 members and none of them in a four-star contract ^[1,3]. BlueCross BlueShield of Tennessee is the same at 220,412. Molina is the most striking for a different reason: 72% of its members are in plans rated three stars or lower. Wellcare and HCSC, which owns HealthSpring, follow.

The comparison with the best is stark. Kaiser Permanente and Humana have 100% and 95% of their members in four-star contracts ^[1,3]. The full insurer ranking, best to worst, is on the Medicare Advantage hub.

6. Before you decide

A low rating is a reason to look, not an automatic reason to leave. Check whether a better-rated plan is sold in your county, whether your doctors are in its network and what it charges. To find your own plan's rating, use the 2027 star ratings lookup; for the top of the scale, see the five-star plans.

Frequently asked questions

What is the worst Medicare Advantage plan for 2027?

The only 2-star contract is Verda Health Plan of Texas (H5163), with 3,893 members ^[1,3]. Among plans with at least 10,000 members, the lowest-rated is CareFirst BlueCross BlueShield's PPO contract H7379 at 2.5 stars, followed by Blue Shield of California H4937 ^[1,2,3].

Which Medicare Advantage company is the worst?

Among insurers with at least 100,000 members, Healthfirst and BlueCross BlueShield of Tennessee have none of their members in a four-star contract, and Wellcare (Centene) has 10% of 815,956 ^[1,3]. For a fair comparison with the large insurers, see the full ranking.

My plan is rated 3 stars. Should I switch?

Look at what else is sold in your county first. A 3-star plan is below most of the market, since 71% of members are in plans rated four or more ^[4], but price, your doctors and your prescriptions can outweigh a star. You can switch during open enrollment, 15 October to 7 December 2026 ^[4].

What does the low-performing warning mean?

CMS adds it when a contract scores below three stars for three years in a row. Four carry it for 2027 ^[1]. Medicare may write to members of those plans, and Plan Finder will not let you enroll in one online.

Sources

Every figure on this page is footnoted to one of the primary documents below. Reliability tiers: A = regulator, court or filed document; B = reputable publisher or carrier official page; C = user-generated (reported by users).

1.Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services — 2027 Part C and D Star Ratings data tables (Summary Ratings, Low Performing and High Performing Contracts, Domain and Measure Stars), 8 October 2026. https://www.cms.gov/files/zip/2027-star-ratings-data-tables-oct-8-2026.zipTier A · Regulator / court / filed document · Published 2026-10-08 · Accessed 2026-10-18
2.Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services — 2026 Part C and D Star Ratings data tables, Summary Ratings as updated 22 July 2026. https://www.cms.gov/files/zip/2026-star-ratings-data-tables.zipTier A · Regulator / court / filed document · Published 2026-07-22 · Accessed 2026-10-18
3.Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services — Monthly Enrollment by Contract, October 2026. https://www.cms.gov/files/zip/monthly-enrollment-contract-october-2026.zipTier A · Regulator / court / filed document · Published 2026-10-15 · Accessed 2026-10-18
4.Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services — Fact sheet — 2027 Medicare Advantage and Part D Star Ratings, 8 October 2026. https://www.cms.gov/files/document/fact-sheet-2027-ma-part-d-star-ratings-october-8-2026.pdfTier A · Regulator / court / filed document · Published 2026-10-08 · Accessed 2026-10-18